


Finding Home

by ThatGayFriend



Category: Fear the Walking Dead (TV), The 100 (TV)
Genre: Crossover Pairings, F/F, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-06-05 04:32:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 21
Words: 107,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6689281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatGayFriend/pseuds/ThatGayFriend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Elyza Lex is from Australia but when the apocalypse whips out most of humanity, she is nowhere near her family. She's in California, an ocean away from her mom and everything familiar to her. But she is determined to get back home and meets some interesting people along the way. This is from Elyza's POV because I feel like all the other fics are a little too fast for my liking. This takes place from the very beginning and goes through the development of Elyza's character. Also published on Fanfiction.net</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One: The Airport

**_Chapter One: The Airport_ **

The world had decided to take a shit at the most inopportune moment.

Elyza had been sitting in the airport at LAX, waiting for her flight to head back to Australia. She was alone, her carry-on bag in the seat next to her—separating her from an old woman that smelled like death and moth balls—and her leather jacket was draped over her thighs.

She was caught up in the world of Harry Potter when the lights went off. Elyza looked up as the airport suddenly became deadly silent, except for the horrifyingly high-pitched screams of scared children. Which were the only scary things about the screams—kids tended to overreact in Elyza’s experience. Then the backup generator started and the entire waiting area she was settled in was cast in a blood-red glow once the emergency lights kicked on.

Her heart pounding, she closed her book and unzipped her backpack, shoving it back inside. Elyza stood and put on her leather jacket before slinging a strap of her bag over her shoulder. She rushed over to the nearest information desk, which was already overrun with people inquiring about the power.

_Guess that’s not going to work._ She thought and pulled the other backpack strap over her shoulder so it would rest more comfortably on her back.

A scream pierced the slowly rising noise of impatient people. This time though, Elyza’s heart lurched into her throat at the sound, she’d never heard anything sound like it was that completely terrified. The blood in her veins seemed to freeze before her heart began pumping louder and faster in her chest.

That was when everything happened. Chaos erupted and people were screaming. Elyza clearly made out someone shouting, “She’s eating his face!”

Elyza was being jostled around, she didn’t know which way the exit was, but she wanted to get there as soon as possible. She tried to push against the masses, but they pushed back. Bodies were so closely packed together that she couldn’t see very well over anyone’s head to get a clear view of her surroundings.

“Come on,” someone snapped and yanked her arm. Elyza stumbled over someone’s leg but whoever had her arm was strong and kept her up.

Elyza was pulled through a door, almost slamming her shoulder into the wall and then abruptly let go of. She stumbled and fell on her ass hard, crying out in pain. “Ow, fuck!”

She yanked her body around and stumbled back to her feet, searching for her savior. It was a man, with tousled black-brown hair and dark eyes. He was glancing around, his eyes shifting back and forth in search of threats. Elyza frowned, she didn’t know him at all. So why had he saved her?

A girl ran around the side of the building before Elyza could speak. She came to a halt in front of the guy. She looked younger, but bore a striking resemblance so Elyza could only assume they were siblings. “Bellamy, where have you been?” She growled and punched him in the arm.

She was obviously worried about him, but attempted to cover it with anger as she crossed her arms over her chest. Octavia ran a hand through her hair, waiting with hard, impatient green eyes trained on her brother.

The guy—Bellamy—was dressed in army fatigues and had a gun strapped to his hip. “I got caught up in the frenzy, O. I’m sorry it took so long, where’s mom? We have to get out of here before they start infecting each other in there.” He turned around and his eyes met Elyza’s. He didn’t say a word, but yanked a zip tie from out of one of his many pockets.

For a split second, Elyza thought he was going to tie her up. But he turned his back on his sister and walked past Elyza towards the door.  

“She’s around back with the truck. Hurry up!” The girl replied and followed Bellamy’s eyes to look at Elyza before completely ignoring her and turning, leaving the way she came.

Bellamy wrapped the tie around the handle of the doors, yanking it tight just as someone slammed into it. The doors bent but held tightly closed. A young woman was pounding on the door with heavy make-up, a tight dress and wide open, frantic eyes. She shouted for help but Bellamy didn’t seem like he was going to help her to Elyza.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing? People are in there. They need to get out!” Elyza rushed forward, trying to open the door. She knew it was no use, she would need a knife or scissors to get the zip tie off, neither of which she had on her person.

Bellamy yanked her away roughly, “We can’t help them anymore. Whatever is in there needs to be contained.”

“At the expense of _all_ of these people?” Elyza shouted, yanking her arm away from the guy in disgust. She tried to open the door again, but the plastic tie was tight and she couldn’t get it.

With a growl of frustration, Bellamy wrapped his arms around Elyza’s waist and yanked hard to pull her away. “We have to get out of here.”

Elyza tried to pull away, but the guy was too strong. He carried her, kicking and complaining around the building and to a bright red Ram truck parked just around the corner.

He let go of her and she punched him in the chest, “What the hell? I don’t even know you.” Her face was bright red from her exertion and she was breathing heavily. A small amount of pride mad her smirk when she realized he was breathing hard too.

“Just get in the truck. I’ll explain later.” He opened the door and pushed her roughly towards the opening. Two women are inside, along with another boy with shoulder length brown hair.

Elyza shook her head. Who the hell were these people? And why were they manhandling her?

Once she begrudgingly stepped up and settled into the seat, Bellamy slammed the door. Elyza watched him walk away, pulling his pistol from his waist.

“So who are you?”

Elyza glanced over at the slim, long-haired boy next to her. “Hmm?” She rubbed her forehead. _What the hell is going on?_

“Who are you?” He repeated, chuckling at her.

She shook her head, “Elyza Lex. Do _you_ know what’s going on?”

He shook his head, “No idea, but the Blakes’ seem to.”

The girl from earlier whipped around in the front seat. “I don’t actually know jack-shit, but Bellamy seems to know at least _something_. I don’t know what he’s doing though. Why did he save you?”

Elyza shook her head, “No idea.”

The girl rolled her eyes and turned back around, pulling her brown hair back into a high ponytail. She was dressed in a white tank top, large jacket and simple black jeans. “I’m Octavia, by the way. This is my mom, Aurora. And that’s Finn.”

“I’m Elyza,” She repeated, waving awkwardly.

Bellamy finally came back and opened Elyza’s door in a rush. “Scoot over.” He said seriously and a little urgently.

He didn’t wait for a response before practically shoving Elyza to the side and up against Finn. “Ow, what the fuck, asshole?” She punched his shoulder once he slammed the door closed.

“Step on it. We need to get out of here.” He leaned up and told Aurora before turning around in his seat and glanced out of the back window.

Elyza followed his gaze and saw a person running. Actually, several people. They were screaming and something was following them. More people turned around the corner, but there was something wrong. They were slow and covered in some sort of dark liquid. There was nearly a dozen of them while only a few people attempted to flee for their lives.

She could hear loud, growling noises just before Aurora started the truck and peeled out of the airport.

Elyza was stuck with people she didn’t know.

 

 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2: Convenient Store

**_Chapter 2: Convenient Store_ **

The truck didn’t stop for over twenty minutes and Elyza didn’t know what do to. She was stuck between two strange boys she didn’t know and in a truck going somewhere she didn’t know of.

Elyza had only been in California for two weeks on a spring trip from University. She had spent the time in Santa Monica with her best friend, Wells, who she hadn’t seen in over three years. She didn’t know anything about California, she couldn’t even drive in America.

As she looked out of the window, she saw smoke in the distance, over houses and buildings. People were in the streets, confused and scared. The going was slow and police officers weren’t making it any easier. They ushered people back inside of their homes and fire trucks zoomed past several times, followed by multiple police cars.

Aurora turned up the radio and warnings were playing on every station. Every news caster was telling people to stay indoors and informing them that they did not need to worry, the police had everything under control. But there was nobody actually talking about what was going on.

Clearly something was happening, the power was out and people were getting stir-crazy. But what exactly was causing the city wide black out? Police shootings were occurring all over Los Angeles and people were beginning to protest the apparent brutality.

Finally, it seemed Octavia had had enough and pressed down hard on the radio power button before huffing and settling herself back down into her seat. “Bell, explain to us what’s going on?”

He sighed, “I overheard my lieutenant discussing the shootings with another lieutenant. I guess they’ve heard about some sort of disease going around. It makes people vicious and violent. But, they don’t die. They have to be shot in the head. I guess that’s why the people that’re infected attack healthy people and are shot so many times.

“Back there, someone was infected or multiple people. I’m not exactly sure, but they attacked. And once that happened, people freaked. Now, I think the infection is spreading quickly and I think we need to stay away from any over populated areas. We need to go home.”

Finn spoke up, “So you mean, things are going to get crazy?”

Bellamy nodded, “Basically. We need to get back home and then head over to the beach house. Its secluded, we can hole up there for a while. Until everything settles down.” _If everything settles down_ , was the unspoken addition Elyza sensed in his tone.

Elyza felt her heart lurch. She didn’t _know_ these people. Yes, Bellamy might have saved her from a mob, but she didn’t know if she could trust them. “Hold on, I don’t know you! I need to get home!”

Octavia rolled her eyes, “And where’s that?”

“Australia.”

“Well, obviously that isn’t happening for a while and right now, you need us to survive. Unless you want to leave and risk your life when you’d be perfectly safe with us.” Bellamy interrupted harshly.

Elyza crossed her arms impatiently, “Fine.”

Aurora and Octavia exchanged a look Elyza wasn’t able to interpret as they pulled into the driveway of a small, blue painted house. Finn got out first and Elyza followed him, straightening her shirt and grabbing her bag.

She searched her pocket for her cell phone and pulled it out of her back pocket. _I should call my mom._ She flipped it over to the front, it was cracked. In fact, the screen was completely shattered.

Gunshots rang out from far away, then a shatter of glass that drew Elyza’s attention away from her phone. A couple of houses down people stumbled outside, screaming at each other. The man was brandishing a gun.

“We better get inside, it’s about to get even crazier.” Finn said and pushed her towards the door, blocking her view of the arguing couple.

Once inside, Elyza got the chance to be alone. She mentioned something about having to use the restroom and locked the door behind her once she had found it. The lights wouldn’t turn on so she was left in semi-darkness. A small amount of light shone through the small window in the upper part of the wall inside of the shower.

The distorted screen came to life and Elyza felt like she was going to faint with relief. She had to get in touch with her mom, with the Jahas’. Whatever was going on, she knew that it wasn’t something simple that was going to be solved quickly. Elyza had a dreadful feeling that things were never going to be the same after this.

She unlocked her phone shakily and pressed her mom’s contact name before putting the phone to her ear. It rang several times before a long, monotonous dead noise overtook the line. It was busy or out of service.

“Fuck,” she mumbled and dropped the phone on the bathroom counter. Elyza sagged against it in defeat. Just three hours ago she was hugging Wells goodbye and looking forward to being home. Now, she was kidnapped by a group of people she didn’t know because of some epidemic she hadn’t even heard anything about until now. Until it was too late.

Tears welled in her eyes and she tried to breath, to push the pinpricks behind her eyes away. She couldn’t afford to cry. Elyza wanted to talk to her mom, she wanted to know that she was okay. She needed the reassurance.

Picking up the phone one more time, she redialed her mother’s number and held the phone shakily to her ear. She leaned against the counter, needing it to keep her steady. She was just feeling so _alone_.

“Hello? Elyza? I thought you were supposed to be on the plane by now.” Her mom’s voice was sleepy, she’d forgotten about the time difference. It was getting pretty late in Australia and her mom must have been asleep.

Elyza hesitated, too relieved to hear her mom’s voice to respond. A couple of tears threatened to spill over and she rubbed them away with her sleeve quickly, clearing her throat. “Hey, mum. I’m sorry for waking you up but there’s been a problem with the flight.”

“Oh? When are you supposed to board? What’s going on?” Her voice sounded more alert, a little worried.

She thought about telling the truth, explaining that things were going completely whacko in the States. The airport was shut down. She wasn’t going home and that was what scared her the most. “I guess there were some maintenance problems and they had to call down the mechanics. It shouldn’t be too long.”

“Oh! It’ll be okay, honey, you worry too much. I’ll have some food ready when you get here. I know the time change is going to be a total pain in the ass for you, but you can sleep as long as you need once you get back. I’ve missed you so much.”

Elyza sniffled, “I’ve missed you too, mum.”

Someone slammed on the bathroom door, “Come on, Elyza! We need your help!” Octavia shouted through the door. Elyza winced and rubbed her face.

“Who was that, sweetie?” Her mom asked.

“Nobody, just loud Americans.” She forced a hollow laugh.

She heard her mom yawn, “Well alright. Text me when you board. I’ll probably be asleep but I’d still like to know. If the time changes for me to pick you up from the airport, let me know.”

“I will, mum.”

“I love you, Elyza.”

Her breath hitched, she was so worried she’d never see her mom again. “I love you too, mum.”

Elyza heard her mom hang up the phone and set her phone face down on the counter. Octavia shouted again and Elyza jumped. She caught her own reflection in the mirror. Her face was red and blotchy from crying so she leaned over and rinsed her face with the cool water from the sink.

Once she thought she looked as normal as she could for the situation, she slipped her phone back in her pocket and exited the bathroom. The three strangers were bustling around the house, back and forth from the kitchen to the truck with food, clothing and bedding. They were all ready to leave in an instant.

Bellamy approached her and held up a black, folded pocket knife. “This is for you, I found several in my dad’s old filing cabinet. Do you know how to use one of these?”

Elyza rolled her eyes, before her father had died about a years ago he had taught her a whole lot about guns, knives and survival. He had convinced her mother when she turned ten to enroll her in Tae Kwon Do lessons and she’d been doing that for around eight years. She was sure that she could take care of herself, she wasn’t sure about being able to live without her mother though.  “Yes, I do.”

He handed her the knife and nodded, “Good, well, protect yourself with it.”

“It’s not going to do much good against something like that,” she gestured towards the gun holstered at Bellamy’s hip.

A short chuckled escaped his lips, “Well, I don’t have another one right now. Once we find some backup firearms I will be totally willing to give you at least one of them.”

Elyza nodded and slid the weapon into her front pocket, allowing the clip to hold onto the material of her pants for easier access. “Fine then, I hope we can find some soon.”

“Me too. Now, I have a serious favor to ask.”

Elyza hesitated at that, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to help Bellamy. She didn’t even know him, if she was completely honest, he kind of seemed like an asshole. “What do you need?”

“Well, we haven’t been to the beach house since last summer and there aren’t many resources. My family doesn’t have a lot of water here so I was wondering if you would accompany Finn and me to the gas station to pick up some extra supplies.” He paused for a second, then added quickly, “It could possibly be dangerous and you don’t owe my family anything, so I’d understand if you didn’t want to go.” 

The danger was a serious factor, but Bellamy had saved her life in the airport. It was very possible that she could have been trampled or attacked so she did owe him. But there was no telling what was out there. She’d never seen or heard anything about any of these infected until the airport. But, she did need to find the Jahas’, they would be familiar people who she could trust completely. So maybe if she helped Bellamy out they would give her supplies and she could go out on her own.

“I’m in, but my only condition is that you provide me with enough supplies to last me until I get to Santa Monica. After I help you, I’m leaving.” She crossed her arms over her chest and straightened her back, trying to seem stronger than she felt in that moment.

Bellamy gave her a once over then stared into her eyes, probably hoping to convince her to stay with them. “It would be safer if you stayed with us. We can protect you. You can trust us.”

Elyza shook her head and set her jaw, “I have to go find my family. I don’t know you, I have to make sure my family is safe. I might not be able to get home but I have people here.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, staring hard into her eyes before stepping away, “Fine. We’ll supply you with what you need. But, if you change your mind, I’ll draw you up a map to get to the beach house. Its near Long Beach, you can come there any chance you get. I promise we’ll welcome you.”

She only nodded in response, “Then we should head out.”

Bellamy turned away and re-entered the living room. Elyza followed behind him and found Aurora, Octavia and Finn going through the large kitchen pantry, tossing any imperishable food items into a large cardboard box.

“Finn, let’s go.” Bellamy called and waved him towards the door. Finn quickly stood and tossed a can of sweet corn into the box.

He pulled on a jacket that was draped over the back of the couch, “Thank god.”

Octavia stood and narrowed her eyes at Bellamy, “Where are you guys going? It’s not safe out there.”

“We’re going on a supply run. We need more water than we have and we’re ahead of the rest of the city. People won’t start leaving for a while, so we need to stock up on food now.” Bellamy replied, opening the front door. He was ready to leave and he knew if he stayed for too long Octavia would start an argument.

Octavia’s posture quickly changed, she tensed up and crossed her arms. Her jaw clenched angrily, “Bellamy, it’s not safe. You guys could get hurt. We have everything we need right now. Once we get to the ocean we can find a store or something. People are starting to riot out there. Guns are going off, you could die. And don’t get me started on her—“

“Shut up, Octavia. I’m going and so are Elyza and Finn. Just keep an eye on mom. We’ll be back before you know it.” He gestured for Finn and Elyza to exit the house and then firmly shut the door behind him before Octavia could respond.

The three of them walked down the eerily quiet suburban street in silence. They didn’t talk to each other because all eyes were on the dark corners of houses or other people walking around as if nothing was going on.

Elyza pulled the knife from her pocket and flicked it open and closed nervously. She didn’t know what kind of threat she was looking for. People shooting guns? Eating each other? It didn’t seem like any of that was going on in Bellamy’s neighborhood.

The trio turned a corner and a small gas station stood at the end of the street. Elyza’s mind tried to go through the best possible way to do this. If people were in there, looting and going nuts, then they would have to fight for what they wanted. But if not, they could easily go in there and buy up as much water as possible without drawing too much attention.

She noted the three cars parked near gas pumps and one person pumping gas into their car. It wasn’t crazy, so they just had to keep it low key and nothing bad would happen.

Bellamy grabbed her arm and pulled her close, “Grab whatever waters you can then bring them up to the front. Chips, foods, really anything. Not too much that seems suspicious but enough.” He slipped something into her hand and she looked down at it as he walked inside.

Cash. She counted it. Over a hundred bucks. _I could use this for later_ , she thought and slipped fifty bucks into her back pocket before entering the convenient store.

It was grimy and practically empty. The cashier was missing, probably somewhere in the back trying to entertain themselves. The white tile floor was tinged a slight gray color and covered in dirt. The lights overhead buzzed quietly and the air conditioner wheezed in the background.

Elyza made her way to the back line to find drinks. Heavy cases of 24-packs of water sat on the ground. She walked down the nearest isle, where Finn was grabbing several bags of chips and snacks to bring up to the front. Bellamy was near the fridges, grabbing Gatorades and water bottles, haphazardly balancing them in his arms before heading to the front of the store.

Elyza grabbed herself three bags of white cheddar popcorn before going back and grabbing a single case of water. She placed it heavily on the counter where Bellamy stood, waiting impatiently for the cashier.

“Hello?” he called out loudly, banging on the table.

Shuffling could be heard from the ajar door behind the counter. Bellamy grew increasingly impatient and hopped over the counter and pushing the door open further, “Hell-“

He was cut off and slammed against the door, “Finn! Elyza! He’s infected! Help!”

Bellamy’s hand was wrapped around the infected cashier’s neck. He was covered in blood and Elyza hoped for all their sake it wasn’t _his_ blood.

Finn shouted and hopped over the counter too. He blocked Elyza’s view of Bellamy as her heart pounded painfully in her chest. She was afraid, more afraid than she had ever been before. She was frozen in her spot as Finn pulled the sick cashier off of Bellamy.

Bellamy pulled his gun from its holster, flicked off the safety and shot the infected man in the head, mere inches from Finn’s. Elyza flinched at the noise, her ears ringing afterward.

As the three of them settled down, Finn dropped the cashier on the ground and leaned against the threshold of the door. He spilled his guts all over the backroom.

Bellamy grimaced and put the gun back in his waist, “I guess we don’t have to pay for this stuff.”

Elyza glanced through the window and saw that all three of the cars had left, so nobody had witnessed what they had done. _Thank God, I wouldn’t be able to deal with the cops again this trip._

“What the hell, Lex? I thought you knew how to take care of yourself! I could have died, we all could have died.” Bellamy’s voice was rough and low, angry and shocked. He patted Finn on the shoulder before stepping over the dead body. He didn’t seem all that effected by what had happened, even though he was covered from the neck down in blood. Clearly not his blood, from the way he was acting.

Elyza swallowed the lump in her throat, “I’ve never _hurt_ anyone before. I’ve only been in fist fights, not life or death situations. I’m sorry.” Her mouth was dry. They had just _killed_ a man and Bellamy _still_ didn’t seem like he was phased. It really freaked Elyza out.

Bellamy rolled his eyes, “Finn, you okay back there?”

Finn let out a groan and managed a thumbs up without lifting his head from behind the door. Elyza felt like she was shaking, like maybe she could throw up too, if she really thought about it.

She turned away, taking a deep breath to calm her rolling stomach. She ran a hand through her blonde tresses and pulled her jacket tighter around her. _This is fucking crazy._

 When she finally turned around Bellamy has packed away the loose food and drink items into plastic bags. Finn was wiping his face off with some paper towels behind the counter and looking paler than before.

“Grab some bags, you two.” He grabbed three for himself after sliding over the counter again. Finn opened a soda he had grabbed and gulped it down, probably to get the taste of vomit out of his mouth. Elyza grabbed the heavy 24-pack of waters and rested it on her shoulder.

Finn tried to protest, saying he could carry it, but Elyza didn’t allow it. She’d already shown these two boys her weak side, she wasn’t about to let them do all of the heavy lifting. They did have a long way back to Bellamy’s home, but Elyza wasn’t going to let the boys pamper her.


	3. Chapter Three: The Motorcycle

**_Chapter Three: The Motorcycle_ **

            Once they arrived back at the Blake home, Elyza’s shoulder was burning and a light sheen of sweat covered her face and neck. She was ready to take off her jacket because of the overpowering heat her body was creating.

            They didn’t run into any other problems on their way back, for which Elyza was grateful. She wasn’t sure she would be able to deal with another infected person; with having to kill someone. Still, she couldn’t understand how Bellamy was so nonchalant about the whole convenient store situation.

            _Maybe he’s killed before_ , she thought, _he is a military guy._ That assured her a little, he knew how to handle himself. Bellamy seemed capable of surviving. _Maybe I should stay with him._ She wasn’t sure she would be able to survive out there on her own. Bellamy was capable. _He can keep me safe._

            Taking a deep breath, Elyza tried to shake that thought out of her head. She didn’t know him, she didn’t know his family or if they could possibly be dangerous. She needed to go find Wells and his dad, she needed to find a way home. The airport was shut down, at least for the day, until the government could start dealing with the threat of the disease.

            Bellamy dropped his bags in the bed of the truck with a grunt, “Alright. I say we stay here tonight and head out in the morning.”

            Finn placed the rest of the bags with Bellamy’s, “Are you sure? Maybe we should leave now.” He ran a hand through his hair, getting a few tendrils out of his face.

            Running a hand through his curls, Bellamy shook his head, “No. We’re all tired and driving down is going to be hard. There’s going to be traffic everywhere because it’s getting late. Even without the threat of getting infected, the traffic would be horrible.”

            “But people are going to start getting scared, they’re going to start leaving. It’s only going to get worse from here, Bellamy.”

            Sighing, Bellamy leaned against the trucking, putting his head in his hands. It seemed to Elyza that he was in charge, without really wanting to be. He was making decisions, while his mother was staying silent. Elyza didn’t know why she wasn’t being more vocal and _motherly_ about the situation, but she wasn’t. So it was up to Bellamy to protect the women of his family, and Finn.

            “People aren’t going to be heading for the coast,” it was Octavia as she came outside. “They’re going to be heading east. Towards other people. Not the ocean.”

            Elyza nodded, “She’s right.”

            Octavia smirked, “I know I am.”

            “Don’t boost her ego, Lex. She always thinks she’s right, she doesn’t need anyone telling her that she actually is,” Bellamy rolled his eyes, flashing his sister a cocky smirk.

            Elyza chuckled and glanced around at the small group, “Sorry, Blake.”

            Chuckling, Bellamy sent everyone inside. Elyza followed behind Finn and Octavia as they headed indoors as the sun went down. “Hold on a second, Lex.” He grabbed her arm.

            Elyza turned and frowned, “What is it?”

            “Are you still planning on going your own way tomorrow?” His voice was low and deep, it sounded like he didn’t want her to leave.

            “Yeah, I am. But I need to find some mode of transportation,” she pulled her arm lightly out of his grasp and crossed her arms over her chest. He had a weird way of getting too into her personal space.

            He nodded, and glanced away, stepping backwards. “I have something for that. Follow me.”

            Bellamy led her to the Blake’s garage, pulling the door open from the outside. “My dad used to be obsessed with fixing up old Harley’s. But he was never really able to work out the mechanics so my mom made him just buy a bike. Well, he died three years ago so his bike has just been collecting dust. Since I’m in the military I don’t take it out and mom won’t let Octavia ride it, no matter how much she wants to.” He pushed around a trash can and several boxes full of old knick-knacks of their family.

            A white sheet hung over what Elyza assumed was the motorcycle and Bellamy yanked it off, “So I’ll just give it to you. Now, don’t say no. I want to give it to you. If only it means you can get out of here safely and find your friends. I’m going to draw you a map to the beach house and I want to you come down if you find the chance, okay?”

            The bike was beautiful. It didn’t look very used but it was a little dusty. It was a completely black Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Classic without any designs on the paint. There three, large storage compartments on the back end, enough space for Elyza for sure. The windshield was clear of cracks or dirt and there was a stereo embedded into the dashboard. The seat looked comfortable enough, with a second one behind the driver’s for a passenger. It had a complete seat with armrest for the passenger and looked even more comfortable than the one for the driver.

            Bellamy maneuvered the bike out of the garage and settled it next to the truck. “The keys are inside. But the compartments lock closed and it’s been maintained, I promise.”

            Elyza didn’t have a clue what to say. She was overwhelmed with gratitude at Bellamy’s kindness. He was willing to give his father’s motorcycle to a complete stranger, a stranger who hadn’t even helped save him from a life or death situation.

            “Bellamy, I-I don’t know what to say to this…” she finally managed.

            Bellamy shook his head, “Its fine, Elyza. Just, take it okay? Find your family, find who you need then try to find us. If you ever need anything, you can trust us. At the very least me. No matter what happens, you have a safe haven with us.”

            Elyza _still_ didn’t know what to say. She was unable to develop a proper sentence so she just grabbed Bellamy by his fatigues and pulled him into a hug, “Thanks.”

            This was a lot more than anyone had ever done for her. More than any of her friends that she had known for her entire life. Bellamy managed to wrap his arms around Elyza in shock for a brief moment before the ground began to shake.

            He pulled away and grabbed Elyza’s hand, “Shit! It feels like an earthquake!”

            But it wasn’t, Elyza turned around just in time to see a large plumb of smoke blow into the air. It couldn’t have been more than twenty miles away. “Bellamy, stop. It’s not an earthquake.” Her voice was in awe, she could barely process what exactly was going on before her eyes.

            “What the…” he pulled Elyza closer to the house. “We need to get inside, this doesn’t look good. Staying indoors seems like the best option.”

            Bellamy pulled her into the house and closed the door behind them.

            “Hey, what the hell was that?” Finn was standing up from the couch, a frown on his face.

            “Some sort of bomb, it’s getting worse. More people are infected. Clearly things aren’t going very well for the government. They can’t contain this disease,” Bellamy began pacing.

            Octavia rushed down the hall, “Bell, you need to get out of those clothes, didn’t you abandon your post? You’ll get in serious trouble if the military starts coming into the neighborhood.”

            He nodded, “You’re right.” He began unbuttoning his jacket and pulled it off before rushing down the hallway in the direction Elyza assumed was his bedroom.

            He was gone for several minutes, during the time Elyza perched on the love seat pressed against the far wall of the living room. The electricity was still out so there wasn’t much to do. Elyza tried to contact her mother again, she was probably getting worried after not hearing much from her daughter in the last three hours.

            The sun was beginning to go down outside so Elyza helped Aurora and Octavia light candles around the house the family had been keeping under the sink for years. Octavia even explained that her mother was a little bit compulsive when it came to candles and always bought them because they would have future use for them.

            Once the living room was better lit, they all sat around on the couch while Aurora put together a dinner of perishable food items so they didn’t go to waste. To burn the time, Finn suggested they play ‘get to know Lex’.

            “So where are you from, Elyza?” Octavia asked.

            “I’m from Brisbane, Australia. I came to the States for a trip to see a close family friend of mine during a break from University.”

            “Oh really?” Finn asked in surprise, “What are you majoring in?”

            Elyza pursed her lips, “I’ve been stuck between medical and art ever since I started. So I’ve been taking both types of classes until I can finally make a decision. But it doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to make a decision at this point.”

            Bellamy laughed at that, “I dropped out of college after the first semester and joined the military, so you’re doing a lot better than me.”

            Finn and Octavia joined in before Octavia added, “Yeah, what was your average again? C? D? Well, whatever it was. It was horrifying.”

            Bellamy rolled his eyes, “Shut up, O. Anyway, how old are you, Elyza?”

            “I just turned 22 a couple of months ago.”

            They continued asking questions, getting to know the girl that Bellamy had saved in the airport. Elyza liked getting to know all of them. She asked questions as often as she received them. She learned that the Blakes knew Finn through Octavia, who went to school with him. They weren’t too close of friends but they were working on a school project together and Finn’s parents were in Florida on vacation for the next week so he decided to hang out.

            “Dinner, kids!” Aurora called from the kitchen, placing plates on the dining room table.

            Elyza stood up and followed her new-found friends into the kitchen where she found plates of salads and fruits that would soon rot if they weren’t eaten quickly. A gallon of milk was set out on the table. Since the power was out, the microwave wasn’t working so they weren’t able to heat anything up.

            Everyone sat down, Elyza next to Finn with the Blake siblings across from them and Aurora at the head of the table. They tried to make things light as they spoke, just getting to know each other and discussing school.

            They acted like things weren’t going crazy outside. They pretended the world wasn’t ending outside of that front door. The faint sounds of sirens, alarms and noise could be heard from the city, but they continued to talk to drown out the noise.

            _Things are normal. We’re all safe,_ Elyza thought. But she knew that was far from the truth.


	4. Chapter Four: The Departure

**_Chapter Four: Departure_ **

The next morning, Elyza awoke to the sound of a very large, very loud engine. She rolled off of the small, slightly lumpy couch, her feet hitting the cool wooden floor. She rubbed her forehead and glanced around, remembering where she was. Particularly the circumstances that got her there.

“What’s going on?” She mumbled, noticing Finn already at the window, looking through the blinds.

He pulled away and gave her a dubious look, “Um, well, looks like the military is here. There’s a whole bunch of trucks and a tank coming up the driveway.”

Elyza’s heart lurched into her throat. How would she get out of there if the military took over? Would she be able to leave?

She stood up and tried to rub the last of her drowsiness from her eyes, “I’ve got to get out of here.”

Finn frowned and closed the blinds once again. He was standing in the hallway in a pair of pajama pants he had borrowed from Bellamy the night before. His hair was a mess and his eyes looked darker than the day before. He must not have gotten a lot of sleep. Elyza couldn’t blame him.

“Hold on,” he said, “get out of here? Where do you think you’re going?”

Elyza stretched her back and raised a daring eyebrow at him, “I _know_ I’m leaving here. Today. Because I have to find my family. I appreciate everything that the Blakes have done for me. What you’ve done for me. But I have to get out of here.”

Finn frowned again but shook his head, “I can’t blame you. If my parents weren’t so far away I’d head out in an instant to find them. But, you have to consider that you’d be safer here. The people you’re looking for might be safer where they are now. Going out there might not be the best decision.

“All I’m hearing from you, Finn, are maybe this or maybe that. There are no solid facts that I’m safer here. That person Bellamy killed yesterday was dangerous, if there are more of them. And it seems to me like there will be soon. We don’t stand a chance.” Elyza stared into Finn’s eyes, daring him to disagree with her.

She _had_ to find the Jahas, then she had to find a way to get back to Australia. Maybe things weren’t so bad back home. But she wanted to be with her family, she wanted to die or live or _whatever_ was going to happen with them.

Finn shook his head, “Whatever you say, Aussie.”

Elyza rolled her eyes and scoffed. She made her way down the hallway to the bathroom. The Blakes were still asleep so if she got ready fast enough, she could be gone before they awoke or the military blocked off any exits.

She washed her face and pulled her toothbrush out of the backpack she had managed to keep from the airport. After brushing her teeth and making herself slightly more presentable, she pulled her hair back into a low ponytail.

When she reentered the living room she found Finn laying on the couch again, his blanket thrown over his eyes. Elyza wasn’t sure if he was asleep, but it would be very helpful if she could sneak out of there before anyone noticed she was gone.

She quietly snatched up her leather jacket and flicked open the deadbolt to the front door. When she opened it, she was greeted by a very heavy, wet heat that reminded her of a swamp. The sun should have been rising, but grey, dreary clouds covered the sky, making it darker than it should have been.

Elyza opened the bed of the Blakes’ truck and pulled out two of the plastic bags. She shifted around their loot from the day before until she had four bottles of water, her popcorn, a single Gatorade and three cans of Beefaroni.

Once she turned to face the bike, she realized what she had forgotten, Bellamy hadn’t given her the key yet. She huffed and set down her bags, staring at the motorcycle for a couple of seconds. Elyza knew how to hotwire a car, it wasn’t really _that_ hard to do. But, she’d never had to do it to a motorcycle before.

Before she had the chance to attempt to start the motorcycle manually, she heard the door to the house open. Jumping, she crossed her arms over her chest, trying to seem as if she wasn’t about to abandon the people who just so recently saved her life. But it was only Finn who waggled a set of keys in his hand with a smirk.

“Do you need these?” his voice was full of mockery and pride. Elyza clenched her jaw, she hated it when people were condescending towards her.

She pushed away from the truck and snatched the keys from his hands before he could tease her further, “Yes, thank you.”

She examined them closely, there were two keys. One was smaller, with a black casing that she assumed was for the storage compartments and the other was slightly larger with a shiny dark blue casing she guessed was for the actual motorcycle. Attached to that was a small, pocket-sized picture of two kids with their arms wrapped around each other.

Elyza settled on the picture for a moment, rubbing her thumb over the smooth case surface. The two kids had thick mops of black hair. The girl looked to be no older than four years old with a large grin on her face and food residue surrounding her mouth. The boy was older, leaning over his sister’s shoulder with his tongue sticking out and a smirk playing on his lips. _Bellamy and Octavia._

God, what was she doing? Abandoning them like this? Maybe they weren’t her family, maybe she hadn’t known them for years like she knew Wells Jaha, but they hadn’t been anything but nice to her since Bellamy had saved her life.

But she _had_ to go, at least that was what she was trying to convince herself of. She didn’t owe these people anything. _Except probably your life,_ a small voice added in the back of her head. She didn’t know what to do, but she needed to make a decision then and there.

“Hey, Bellamy also made you this,” he yanked something from his back pocket and held it out towards Elyza. She grabbed it and unfolded some of the edges. _A map_ , _he made me a map._ Taking a deep breath, she caught Finn’s eyes with her own.

“I have to go. But, I’ll find you guys.” She hesitated a second, she wasn’t sure if she should promise. There was no trusting a promise with the way the world was turning out. But she needed to add something, they felt like empty words without it, “I promise.”

Finn nodded and stepped closer to her, still shirtless and a little messy. “Good, because we all like you, Aussie. We don’t want anything to happen to you out there. So,” he stopped for a second and reached behind him, pulling something out of the waistband of his pants, “I’m going to give this to you.”

When Elyza laid eyes on the pistol she took a step back. The way Finn was handling it, it was aimed at her chest. “Woah.” She grabbed his hand and moved the muzzle of the gun away from her general vicinity. “Isn’t that Bell-“

“Yeah, but he’ll be okay without it. He’ll probably get another one sooner or later. You need it more than we do. You’re the one going out there.” He twisted it so the handle was facing Elyza. “Take it.”

She did. She wasn’t stupid enough to deny a gun. It would be useful. She unzipped her backpack and nuzzled it down next to her Harry Potter book, near the pocket knife Bellamy had given her the day before. “Thanks.”

“No problem, Aus. Just be safe out there.” He stepped back and nodded at her, flashing a small, hopeful smile before turning around and reentering the house. After mulling over her decision one last time, Elyza opened one of the storage compartments and shoved her backpack inside then put her food and water supply in another one.

She slung her leg over the seat and settled down, trying to relax. _God, I hope I’m making the right decision._ She found the ignition and inserted the key before turning it. The engine roared to life and Elyza sighed in relief, for a moment she had worried it wouldn’t start.

She revved the engine and used her foot to shift it into action. The bike jumped to life underneath her and she nearly ran into the truck. The breaks squealed as she attempted to avoid the truck and made it around the side, straight into the grass.

After taking a deep breath to reassure herself that she _totally_ had this, she revved it again, at a much slower rate. The bike moved more slowly and Elyza was able to regain her footing, it was just like riding a regular bicycle. She just had to readjust to it after a long time of not being on one.

It had been over a year—before her dad died—that she had last ridden a motorcycle. She had never really driven anything like the Harley she was driving now, dirt bikes on race tracks were the best she’d ever experienced.

Elyza knew that she was the son he’d never had, but she also knew that she was the best daughter he’d ever had. He’d treated her like a princess her entire life; a strong, very tomboy princess. He did everything with her, allowing her to learn how to shoot a gun when she was 8—against her mother’s wishes of course. It had been the two of them against the world, he’d never questioned her like her mother had. He’d only ever supported her, even when his support probably shouldn’t have been on her side.

She missed him so much and as she drove off, she felt tears prick her eyes at the memory of him sitting her in his lap on his dirt bike. He’d shown her how to shift with his foot when she was only six, allowing her to steer even after she’d run them into a tree and broken her wrist and cut open his leg.

He’d never cared, he only ever encouraged. And God, she missed that now more than ever.


	5. Chapter Five: First Kill

**_Chapter Five: First Kill_ **

As Elyza exited the complex, she passed by several military grade trucks parked outside of houses. A couple of officers made half-hearted attempts to wave her down, but she pretended not to see them.

She reached a highway not long later. It took a lot of her focus to stay on the American side of the road. The road was packed, at a complete stand still. Nobody honked, they just sat there. Elyza wasn’t even sure there were people in the vehicles until someone rolled one down and lit a cigarette.

_Thank God I have a motorcycle,_ she thought gratefully as she began to weave between cars, most likely angering the drivers she passed. Finally, she made it to the emergency lane and it was easy cruising from there. She had caught a glimpse of the map Bellamy had provided for her and knew she needed to stay on Lincoln Blvd. for a pretty long time.

It was less than ten minutes later when Elyza heard a loud dinging and a light brighten up the dashboard. When she discovered that the light meant she was running out of gas, she slightly freaked out. She hadn’t really thought about how she was going to get fuel after leaving the Blakes.

The roadsides were void of any gas stations and she definitely didn’t want a repeat performance from the day before. Unsure of when she would officially run out of gas, she kept driving. She hoped there was one further up the road.

Elyza discovered a Shell gas station about three miles up the street and pulled into the parking lot, flicking the kickstand down. She slid herself off of the seat and groaned quietly as her hips readjusted to being back in their original position.

There weren’t any cars parked in the lot, the road was less crowded as she had driven further out of the city. She didn’t know what to expect when she entered the store but getting a nose-full of rotten-smelling _something_.

Stepping back, she let the door close, coughing uncomfortably. Her stomach rolled and she felt like she was going to throw up. Her heart pounded painfully against her ribs as she tried to recover herself. _Something is definitely dead in that place,_ she thought, knowing she needed to find out.

Remembering the infected cashier from the day before, she walked back over to the motorcycle and opened the storage unit with her backpack in it, pulling out the handgun and stuffing it into the waistband of her jeans. She covered it with her shirt and jacket, then turned back to the store.

The second time Elyza opened the door, she was more prepared for the scent that assaulted her senses. “Hello?” she tried to hold her breath, but it was hard when she was required to breathe. There were no voices that responded, just the rustle of something further back in the store, like a wild animal.

Elyza made her way through the aisles, if she was going to get gas, she might as well get more food. The utter silence was eerie, Elyza had never been in a place that didn’t produce at least the smallest sound. But with the power out, there were no machine noises or lights buzzing overhead.

Another noise echoed through the building, setting Elyza’s nerves on edge. She withdrew Bellamy’s handgun from her waistband and flicked off the safety. Slowly, she moved her way towards the line of darkened refrigerators. There were several empty racks all around the store, clearly someone had already taken supplies from the store.

Suddenly, a large man stood up midway down the seventh aisle. He was bald and the rack behind him barely reached his shoulders. Elyza’s heart attempted to jump through her chest when she noticed the size of him. He had to have been over six feet tall with a large, broad shoulders and arms that might have been larger than Elyza’s head.

“Hello? Sir?” she called out, surprised at how confident and strong she sounded. Her finger rested along the barrel of the gun, prepared to shoot at any second.

The man turned around, stirred by her voice. The area around his mouth was covered in glistening, deep red blood and his eyes sent a shiver down Elyza’s back as soon as they found hers. Her body went cold and she frozen, just like when she was in the store with Finn and Bellamy. But now she didn’t have them to save her ass.  

Blinking hard, she managed to tear her gaze away from the man’s. His eyes were oddly blue and hazy, almost as if he wasn’t actually seeing anything. He moved slowly and jerkily, as if having to force himself to move at all. His body didn’t seem to want to respond to his commands.

A low, animalistic growl emitted from his throat and Elyza raised her gun, aiming it at his head. He slowly made his way towards her, but she continued to hesitate with her pointer finger on the trigger.

The man was making his way slowly but surely closer to her and every time she tried to deter him, he only continued towards her. _Pull, don’t squeeze,_ she thought as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Elyza hoped to build up her confidence, _how had Bellamy done this so easily?_

“Stop, please. I don’t want to shoot you.” Elyza muttered desperately. The man looked larger as he turned, his shirt catching on the rack and pulling it down behind him. His eyebrows furrowed and he looked back, stopping for a second mere feet away from Elyza. As he looked down, obviously confused by the noise Elyza breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he was just sick.

But then he turned again and rushed at her more eagerly, nearly knocking her off her feet as he barreled into her. She tried to push against his chest, her hand coming away red with blood. There was a gunshot wound to his chest, right near his heart. _He shouldn’t be alive,_ she thought desperately and she stumbled backwards, her spine slamming into the handle of one of the refrigerators.

She raised her gun as the man continued towards her and didn’t hesitate this time. Two shots echoed through the room but the man didn’t stop. Two more holes appeared around his heart. _He should be dead,_ she nearly screamed in frustration as she spun away. The man slammed into the glass in his frenzy to get to her.

Elyza stumbled further away, trying to make space between the two of them. She managed to gain a couple of feet on him before his hand caught on her jacket and she twisted, losing her footing and falling on the ground. Her hip slammed hard against the tile and she grunted in pain, quickly trying to find footing to push herself further away.

Heart pounding and palms sweaty, she realized she’d never experienced fear like this before. This guy—thing—was trying to kill her and she’d never experienced fighting for her life before. It was nerve-wrecking and Elyza scrambled away as fast as possible, squeezing the gun tightly in her hand.

She scrambled around and settled herself against the wall, watching the man feverishly stumble towards her. _Kill or be killed,_ she thought and aimed her gun between the man’s hazy eyes. Her finger shook over the trigger before she pulled it, her arms shocked from her wrists to her shoulders as the built exited the chamber and flew through the gun.

Elyza knew she’d met her mark when the man fell, dark blood spraying the glass and dripping down his forehead. Breathing heavily, Elyza tried to recover, turning herself away from her view of the man she’d just _killed_.

Her stomach twisted into a tight knot as she took deep breaths. She dropped the gun next to her with a loud clatter, her hands shaking as she curled in on herself. Her hands got lost in her hair, _calm down, calm down. You had to do it. He was going to kill you._ She repeated this over and over in her head, trying to justify herself.

The gas station was completely silent as Elyza attempted to control her breathing and calm her rushing heart rate. _These are crazy times, people have to do crazy things. Bellamy almost died because of one of them. I had to kill him—no, it—because it wasn’t human anymore._

When she finally lifted her head from between her knees, there was a new resolve burning in the pit of her stomach. She would do what she had to do to survive, to get home to her mom and find the Jahas. Shakily making her way to her feet, Elyza grabbed the pistol and shoved it back into her waistband before scanning the room for any more threats.

There was nothing. So she avoided looking at the man she’d killed and gathered up whatever food items she could salvage. It took her nearly twenty minutes to get everything into the storage trunks on the motorcycle, but once she’d finished she went back into the gas station.

Elyza still needed to get gas, so she hoped over the register and looked around for what she had to press to activate the pumps outside. Once she managed to locate the proper buttons she inserted half of the money she had on her into the register and asked for thirty dollars’ worth of gas.

After doing that she moved away from the register where something caught her eye. Hanging on a display rack, not far from the second register down were an assortment of pocket knives—at least, what was left of them.

There were two left, a gnarly looking serrated edged four inch blade with a heavy-duty black metal. Then a much smaller two and a half inch blade with rainbow colors that rippled in the lighting. It was cute to say the least and Elyza grabbed both of them before jumping over the desk again.

Her eyes caught a glimpse of a blue box peeking out from behind one of the aisles and she grew curious. Quickly, she rushed over and found a twelve pack of beer. _Oh sweet Jesus,_ she thought happily, quickly scooping it up into her arms. She was _totally_ getting wasted tonight. She needed to after the day she’d had.

With a skip in her step, she carried her loot back to the motorcycle and twisted the knob off of the gas tank. She went through the motions of getting gas, getting lost in thought. How was she managing to do such a mundane thing as pump gas after doing what she just did?

She shuddered in the warm, California air. The hairs on the back of her neck and on her forearms were raised as the shiver ran down her spine. The world had a different feeling, it felt like it was revolting. Revolting against humans and trying to revert back to before humans began destroying the earth.

Things were changing and Elyza knew she would have to change with it, or she would die. She couldn’t let that happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know this chapter was short. I'm sorry! But I've been posting pretty constantly because I'm trying to get my A03 readers caught up to where my Fanfiction readers are! But I can promise you that the next couple chapters are pretty damn long! So yeah, look forward to that!
> 
> Anyway, I just wanted to say that I really appreciate the views that I've been getting! But I would like to ask you all a favor, please leave a comment! I'd love to hear what you guys think is going to happen next or what you would like to happen next! Or even if its just a simple "I like your story!" it really is appreciated! I honestly think that it helps me write more. Comments make me feel inspired to continue writing so please feel free to leave one!
> 
> Thank you!


	6. Chapter Six: It's Not Just Zombies

******_Chapter Six: It’s Not Just Zombies_ **

It had been nearly three days since Elyza had left the Blakes, meaning four days since the world had decided to end as she knew it. Her phone was complete crap and she had given up on it while she’d been drunk the first night. She’d thrown it against the brick wall of the abandoned storage locker until it had fallen apart in her hands in her anger.

Every night since, she’d slowly but surely depleted her reserves of alcohol, trying to cope with the tragedy that was now her life. The only thing that kept her moving was her desire to see her mother again. She hadn’t managed to go far after the incident at the gas station and she hadn’t moved much since.

After finding the storage building, Elyza had broken in and discovered an unused 7x7 storage unit on the first floor. She had rolled in her motorcycle and parked it in the corner before taking out her backpack and rolling out her fuzzy blanket.

The only things she had had in her carry-on bag were a blanket, her book, toothbrush, toothpaste, sunglasses, cellphone charger, and a set of pajama clothes that she hadn’t managed to fit back in her suitcase. She had the gun and the three pocket knives she’d gotten. There were only fifteen bullets left in her Glock and she was worried that she’d run out of bullets sometime soon.

But after three days of sitting in that storage unit without sunlight and drinking herself into a stupor, she was ready to get moving again.

On the morning of her fourth day on her own, she awoke with a much more minor headache than the other days. She’d refrained from drinking more than one beer because she was trying to prepare herself for moving the next day.

Slowly and painfully, Elyza stood up and cracked her back. Every joint in her body hurt from sleeping on the chilly cement floor. Her hips throbbed as she moved them, trying to stretch them out as she cleaned up her space.

She felt _disgusting_. It had been days since she’d last showered and she wasn’t sure when she would get the chance again. Her hair was greasy and her face felt like it was covered in a heavy sheen of oil. She didn’t know how much she had managed to sweat in the last couple of days but she was acutely conscious of the heavy layer of grime on her skin.

She couldn’t even begin to wonder what she smelled like. Pushing the thought from her mind, Elyza shoved her things back into her backpack and unlocked the nearest, empty compartment on the motorcycle. She’d taken to calling it Blaze because the name reminded her of the Blakes and she hated just calling it ‘the motorcycle’ since she didn’t feel comfortable calling it hers.

After packing away her blanket, she pulled out the map with Bellamy’s handwriting on it. She was halfway to Santa Monica and she regretting wasting so much time wallowing in her own misery. The Jahas were out there still, she might not know if they were alive, but she needed to find out either way.

Elyza pulled on her leather jacket before yanking open the unit door, allowing in sunlight from the glass window opposite it. Blinking hard through the pounding in her head as her eyes adjusted to the penetrating sunlight, Elyza groaned in pain.

_This is why I hate drinking,_ she thought depressingly before rubbing her hands over her face. She grabbed her aviator sunglasses from the inner pocket of her jacket and put them on. As she maneuvered the bike into the hallway, she heard a noise. Fearing it was an infected, she settled Blaze down carefully on its kickstand and yanked the Glock out of her waistband, flicking the safety off in the same motion.

She strained her ears, listening harder for any signs of something moving. A much louder noise echoed through the hallway after a moment of careful attentiveness from Elyza. Jumping slightly, adrenaline coursed through her veins as the fight or flight instinct took over.

Brandishing her gun threateningly in front of her, Elyza cautiously moved down the hallway, heading deeper into the building. The further away she got from the window, the darker her surroundings became. It became harder to see in front of her and she reminded herself to find a flashlight as soon as possible.

Another crash alerted her to the presence of _something._ It sounded like an animal desperately trying to break free from a trap. But Elyza knew that normally, when an animal was trapped it made noise, like whining or moaning for help. This time there was only a wet rasping noise that didn’t sound at all healthy.

Slowly but surely, Elyza made her way down the darkening corridor until she could faintly see the outline of the walls around her. Her heart continued to pound furiously in her chest as she scanned her surroundings. Finally, she discovered the source of the noise.

There was a long hallway to the left of smaller, darker storage units and through the faint lighting, Elyza could see an open door. _Someone must be in there_ , she thought warily. It was dark—almost too dark to see, even with the small window allowing in light at the end of the hallway.

The cement walls were chilly and damp around her, sending a shiver down her spine. Goosebumps rose all over her body, even underneath her clothes. _This all seems so horror movie-like._

As she moved closer, the wet wheezy noise grew louder and something else fell. The noise was definitely coming from the open unit because something round clattered and rolled into the hallway. A loud growl almost made Elyza jump out of her skin and she nearly pulled the trigger on her gun.

“Hello?” She called and her voice echoed.

More frantic noises followed her voice and she edged to stand in front of the pitch black room. She brandished the gun towards the entrance, standing as far away as possible in the cramped room. She narrowed her eyes, trying to penetrate through the darkness and see what was going on within.

Something moved within, slowly this time but she didn’t know what it was. Taking a nervous, hesitant step forward she aimed her gun at the small movement. She was merely feet away from whatever the thing was and didn’t expect it to lunge at her.

Elyza screamed—something she wasn’t proud of—and a hand slapped the gun out of her hand as she jumped back. She pressed herself tightly against the damp wall behind her and cringed away. Hands grabbed at her shoulder and the wet grunts and groans were closer to her face than before—nearly too close for comfort.

She raised her arms and pressed against a hard, cold chest. Her head was angled upward at the chin of a skinny, bearded man whose mouth was wide open and ready to chomp down on her face. He didn’t have blood around his mouth like the guy she’d killed did, but his eyes were still the same hazy, unseeing blue.

Pushing harder, she ducked under one of its arms and punched it in the side. But, the guy didn’t at all react in the way a normal, living person would. In fact, he didn’t react at all as she scrambled away, diving for her pistol and quickly turning around.

With minimal hesitation this time, Elyza aimed and fired the gun. Only this time she missed, the one time she _really_ needed accuracy, she only managed to graze the man’s ear. The bullet actually ricocheted off of the cement wall, sending a spray of debris clattering to the ground.

The Infected fell on top of her and frenziedly grabbed at her shirt and jacket. It crawled up her body and gnashed its death in her face, disgusting saliva drizzling onto Elyza’s shirt. She desperately grabbed at the guy’s hair, forcing it to keep its mouth away from her body.

Grabbing for something, anything with her free hand, Elyza wrapped her fingers around a plastic handle. Not caring what it was, she brought it over the Infected’s head with as much strength as she could muster from the angle. The zombie didn’t seem very fazed, but its grip faltered enough for her to squirm out of the way.

“Hold on,” a deep, male voice called as Elyza gasped heavily, scrambling away.

A heavy black boot landed mere inches from her face as she grabbed behind her, trying to rip the infected guys’ hand off of her jacket. As she struggled, whoever was standing over her fired a gun, causing her ears to ring loudly and her eyes to cross at the incredibly loud noise.

The hand on her jacket went slack and she took a second to catch her breath. She allowed herself to enjoy the cool feeling of the cement ground for a second before she began to stand up.

“Thank y-” before she could finish her sentence something hard slammed into the back of her head and her vision went black. She felt her legs crumble before strong arms caught her and she fell completely unconscious.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~   ~

When Elyza woke up, she was laying on something comfortable and her head hurt—not unlike when she’d had a hangover before. Before she even opened her eyes, she knew she wasn’t in that storage place. Bright, fluorescent lights hurt even though she hadn’t even seen her surroundings yet.

She groaned and sat up, opening her eyes to a brightly lit, white metal room. For a second, she was confused, the wall seemed to be angled outward. She rubbed her forehead and felt a rough bandage wrapped around her forehead.

She followed it with her fingers to a tender, painful spot near the base of her skull. Wincing, she twisted, placing her feet on the white-metal floor below her. She was dressed in different clothes than the ones she had been in before.

A pair of loose, blue and gray-white cargo pants hung loosely on her waist and a white tank-top hugged her torso. The bed beneath her was thin, but still more comfortable than the way that she had been sleeping for the last several days. It had a metal frame that was bolted securely to the floor.

Standing up shakily, the floor seemed to shift and roll underneath her, it felt oddly family but she still stumbled, catching herself on a rounded protrusion from the wall. She thought that maybe it was just her head, the last thing she remembered was something hitting her. Hard.

It felt like a concussion, but before she could really gather her thoughts together a loud, electronic beep came from above. A silver metal door hissed open on a hydraulic locking mechanism and a woman with a tight sandy blonde bun entered the room.

She was dressed in a bleach white lab coat and underneath, blue scrubs. “Hi, I’m glad to see you awake.”

Elyza narrowed her eyes at the woman, crossing her arms uncomfortably over her chest after yanking up her sagging pants. They were too long on her legs, pooling around her feet. “Hello.” She nodded, “Where am I? Where’s Blaze?”

The woman frowned, her penciled in eyebrows creasing closer. “Who’s Blaze? There was nobody with you when we found you.”

Elyza shook her head and hesitatingly added, “No, Blaze isn’t a person. It’s a bike. A motorcycle. It has all of my stuff in it.” She knew she probably sounded crazy, but there was no other way for her to say that she’d named a motorcycle because she was too lonely.

The lady’s facial expression cleared and she chuckled lightly, but her smile didn’t reach her eyes. “We acquired your personal belongings when we found you. The vehicle you had was placed in secure location back on shore, your clothes and backpack were disinfected to avoid attainment of any germs onto the ship. I will have them brought here, if you desire to make you feel more comfortable.”

She pulled a clipboard out from underneath her arm and once again, flashed me a fake smile, “Now, it seems you have a minor concussion from the injury you received when one of our soldiers attempted to detain you. He reports that you fought him so he had to take extensive measures to get you to calm down. I’m going to have to run a few tests to make sure everything is healing properly now that you have woken up. Please have a seat.”

Elyza had no idea what to think, this woman—doctor, or whatever—had just given her so much information she wasn’t sure how to process it properly. _Shore? Ship? Soldiers? Detained? What the hell was going on?_ She did as the woman said and perched herself on the edge of her bed as the doctor walked around and stood before her.

She reached into the outer pocket of her lab coat and pulled out a small handheld flashlight. “I need you to follow the light with your eyes, alright?” She leaned down and rested a cool hand on Elyza’s shoulder, squeezing softly.

The doctor clicked on the light and Elyza flinched ever so slightly as her head pounded. She did as the woman said and after the test was over, rubbed her eyes with her hands in an attempt to clear her vision.

“You look good, slightly slow reaction in the left eye, but it doesn’t seem like there’s too much swelling anymore,” she wrote something down on the clipboard and replaced the flashlight in her pocket. “Now, I would like you to tell me the last thing you remember.”

Frowning carefully in thought, Elyza remembered back to the last thing that happened before everything went black. She had finally been leaving the storage unit to head to Santa Monica after her three-day pity party when she’d heard a noise. Against her better judgement she had gone to investigate and found one of the infected people there. After a small altercation between them, it seemed like the infected guy was going to kill her and she was desperately trying to get away.

Then a voice, a loud gunshot and a whack in the back of the head that sent her into the realm of the dead for a short period of time. There was no memory of her _resisting_ anyone, she didn’t even know who’d saved her and then kidnapped her. Someone was clearly lying.

“I remember getting hit over the head after one of those, those…things nearly killed me. Then after that…nothing. But I don’t remember any sort of _altercation_ ,” It was hard to resist mocking the straight-backed, no nonsense doctor’s vocabulary.

Once again, the doctor raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow, “Are you insinuating that a U.S. Navy SEAL lied to their commanding officer?”

“I’m not _insinuating_ anything, ma’am. I’m telling you that I did not put up a fight,” Elyza’s voice grew hard, the condescending tone this doctor was taking with her didn’t go over well. She had a problem with people treating her like a child and with authority figures trying to make her do what they wanted. 

The doctor’s jaw clenched several times before she responded, “I will investigate further, if you wish.”

Elyza forced herself to restrain from rolling her eyes, “That would be much appreciated. Where am I?”

The doctor cleared her throat and straightening, grabbing the clipboard from where it sat on the bed besides Elyza, “You are aboard the USS Freedom and among a group of Pacific Fleet Naval ships. We were sent to recover any survivors and supplies from what remains of California.”

“Remains? What are you saying? What exactly is going on?”

The doctor walked around the side of the bed and rested her hand on the handle of the door, “I am not at liberty to say. I will have someone bring you something to eat, but I have not been given clearance to allow you unlimited access to this ship’s assets. Do not attempt to leave and I would suggest resting more. You have a concussion, you can’t be moving too much.”

With those last words, the doctor left and Elyza was left alone with the buzzing of overhead lights and the low rumble of the ocean beneath her. Feeling slightly sick to her stomach from the constant motion, she sat down, struggling to rid herself of the uncomfortable sensation.

Sitting only seemed to make it worse, the door seemed to be moving at a different pace as her own body. Her brain didn’t know how to process what her eyes were seeing and her body was feeling. Laying down, she threw her arm over her head and tried to lull herself into sleep with the steady rocking motion of the ship.

Her head still pounding, she tried to force her mind from reeling at the new information she had received. It didn’t work. She was on a ship, somewhere off of the coast of California. How far away from Santa Monica was she? She should have kept moving after killing that infected guy, she should have done so many things differently. Maybe she shouldn’t have left the Blakes and Finn after they had so graciously offered her a place to stay.

_Should of, could of, would of,_ she thought bitterly, repeating the words her father used to say when things hadn’t gone her way. He was always one to go with the flow after something went his way, unlike Elyza who constantly stressed over every decision before making them.

After a few minutes in that small semi-conscious state of sleeping and alertness, a beeping noise woke her up completely. The door hissed open again and she sat up to see who was visiting her again.

A man dressed in fatigues similar to hers stood in the doorway, his face void of any expression. “I brought you lunch and your personal belongings.” He held up each item in his full hands.

Standing up slowly, she reached for the backpack the man held out to her. Once she had it, she pulled the zipper open and sorted through her clothes, she noticed what was missing. “Where are my weapons?”

The guy ran a hand through his short, sandy blond hair. “They were confiscated and placed in the armory for future use.” He placed the plate of food at the foot of the bed. A sandwich and a small bag of chips sat on the plate with a bottle of water. “Before you ask, we have been forbidden from allowing civilians to have firearms. Your pocket knives are still in there, but don’t think about doing anything stupid with them, I read your file.”

Unable to resist, Elyza rolled her eyes. “Thanks. But I need to get out of here. I think I’m getting sea sick.” She was already unfolding her leather jacket and pulling it on over her tank top. It made her feel more comfortable, no matter the situation.

The man gave her a sad look. He was taller than Elyza by nearly half a foot and stood with his back straight. He had a very stocky build, even for his tall height and a handsome face for an older man. He had to have been older than forty, but he still had the strength and build of a young man, at least clothed.

“I’m not allowed to let you out without clearance. But I’ll see if I can get the Doc to give me some Dramamine so I can bring it to you. And I’ll check to see if I can get you on deck. But for now, you need to get some food in your system. You’ve been out for nearly twelve hours. When was the last time you ate?” The concern evident in his voice surprised Elyza.

With an audible sigh, Elyza shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket, “Fine.” She plopped down on the bed and grabbed the bag of chips, opening them with a loud _pop_. Her stomach was tight and she didn’t actually want to eat anything so she replaced the bag with the bottle of water and took a small sip.

The soldier was still standing there, “Are you going to be okay? Are there any people back on shore that we should search for?”

Elyza frowned, her first thought was her mother, but she was in a completely different country. The Jahas were next, but she didn’t have a clue where they were or if they had even survived the initial chaos.

“There’s this family that saved me. They were heading down near the San Pedro area,” she put down the bottle and rummaged through her backpack, pulling out the slightly crumbled map. “There were four of them. Bellamy, Aurora and Octavia Blake with their friend Finn Collins. I don’t know if they made it down, but there were military personnel moving in when I left.” She paused, then added as an afterthought, “They gave me the motorcycle you guys took away. They’re the kids in the picture on the keychain.”

She flashed the soldier a hard look. She wasn’t completely sure why she was so possessive and protective of the family, but she did want them to survive. Who else could help them other than their own government?

“Alright, I’ll look into it for you,” he held out his hand for them map, “I’m Allister, by the way.”

“Elyza,” she placed the map in his hands, for some reason she trusted him.

“Nice to meet you, Elyza.” He nodded before exiting the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, does anyone have any idea who the doctor is without knowing her name? I'd love to know what you think! Also, leave a comment/kudos/whatever you want if you liked this chapter! Thanks for the read. More coming soon. Promise


	7. Chapter Seven:

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, all! I hope you enjoy this update :) Leave me a comment and kudos if you really did! I love to hear from you!

**_Chapter Seven: USS Freedom_ **

            It was a day later—at least Elyza _thought_ it was a day later—when they allowed her to exit her small prison. She was escor`ted by the same soldier—Allister—who she’d seen several times since he’d brought her lunch the day before. He was a very friendly, older man who cared for her how she assumed a grandpa would.

            He had explained to her that he was an experienced veteran in his late 50s who’d managed to sneak into the Vietnam War when he was fourteen by pretending he was actually eighteen. Allister told her that he looked older for his age back then, and he’d been in the army ever since. He wasn’t married and he didn’t have any kids, which shocked Elyza because she’d expected him to after the way he had treated her so nicely.

            Allister escorted her onto the deck of the ship, from a lower story. The interior was made of metal and quite obviously everything had a specific use. Nothing was made for comfort or easy accessibility. There were computer monitors placed periodically down the hallway and small rooms and other hallways branching off on either side.

            White PVC pipes meant for electrical use and round metal water pipes followed the two as they made their way up to the surface. Elyza didn’t see any people as they headed up a set of metal stairs made of a perforated diamond-plate sheet. Her shoes made less noise on them than Allister’s heavy combat boots that his camouflage pants were stuffed into.

            “Hey, Allister?” Elyza asked.

            “Yes, Elyza?” He replied in the same, serious tone.

            She managed a small chuckle before getting serious once again, “Have you found anything on my friends?”

            Clearing his throat, Allister looked away as they made the turn onto the first landing before going up the second flight of steps. “I’m not allowed to tell civilians about missions on shore.”

            Sighing in frustration, Elyza said, “Fine, but can you tell me about what’s going on? Explain to me exactly why things have gone so crazy on land?”

            Sighing, Allister opened the door, allowing the bright light of the sun to penetrate through. The intense brightness reflected off of the metal landing and Elyza was forced to rub her eyes when they pricked with pain. Once she recovered, she walked outside and enjoyed the warmth of the sun for the first time in a while.

            Allister followed her outside and fell into step next to her. The sea breeze was inviting as the sun beat down, the heat rolling in waves nearly as intense as the rough seas beneath the ship. There was a wide open space before the two companions with a large sentry gun nestled in the middle of the two walls enclosing the interior of the ship. The muzzle of the gun peaked out between two metal shields to keep the operator of the gun well protected.

            Elyza had never seen anything as large in her life as she moved around it. There were a few sailors dressed in Navy fatigues cleaning the deck and doing whatever it was the soldiers did while they weren’t working. But none of them really gave the two a second glance because Elyza wasn’t dressed like an average civilian.

            When Allister had come to get her for their walk, he’d handed her a heavy Navy jacket that matched her pants. It fit a lot better than the pants did but didn’t have any patches to indicate who owned it. These details were easily missed, especially when people were too busy to actually pay attention.

            After a few moments of silence, enjoying the breeze and listening to the relaxing lap of the waves against the hull of the ship, Elyza spoke again, “Will you please tell me what’s going on?”

            With another sigh, Allister began to speak, “Well, it started nearly a month ago. I didn’t know about it until a week ago when our commanding officer sent out a file on our next deployment mission.

            “I guess that California had been having cases of…cannibalistic tendencies. But mostly from drug addicts and the homeless. Investigators assumed it was some sort of new strain of a drug. So as they investigated, things progressed even more until it was out of control. I don’t know why the government didn’t get involved until it was too late. But the disease spread quicker than the CDC could control.” He rubbed a hand over his face, remembering how he’d felt completely shocked when he’d read through the file.

            Elyza frowned, trying to process what Allister was saying as he continued, “So we deployed about a day a go. I’m originally from Minnesota so I didn’t think it would affect the family I had left. We got updates every so often, the military had moved in, establishing safe zones throughout the state. There were several in LA but there were just too many people getting infected because they didn’t know anything.

            “The government kept it all hush-hush while civilians were blindsided and infected. Doctors left reports of people dying from the infection after getting bitten—because the infected desired human flesh. But, there were also reports of people dying—without being infected through any physical means, but they still came back as…as, well, zombies.

            “I haven’t experienced any of it yet, I’ve been left on the ship. But the reports scare me, I haven’t been on shore yet, but still, all of this is…well, it’s terrifying.” He ran a hand through his hair once again and leaned over the edge of the ship, breathing deeply.

            Elyza herself didn’t have a clue what to think. She might have experienced the infected first hand, but she hadn’t really understood the full extent of the disaster she was in. She blinked carefully, trying to come up with a response, “Hold on, what exactly do you mean by already infected?”

            Allister shook his head, “I don’t really understand it myself. From what the reports say, the disease is airborne, but dormant. So every single person has it in their system already and when they die—whether it’s through infection or just natural death, they turn. The disease is then activated after death, which somehow manages to… I don’t know, turn everything back on. Everything except the conscious. The only things that are present are the basic instincts of an animal.”

            Silence settled between them as they both got lost in their respective thoughts. Finally, Elyza broke it, “What the actual fuck?”

            Allister wasn’t really surprised by the outburst, even though he had only known Elyza for less than twenty-four hours he knew she was a strong young woman. He chuckled softly, “How old are you, Elyza?”

            “What the hell, Allister? What kind of question is that after dropping a bomb like that on me?” Her eyebrows jumped up her forehead in her surprise at the random question. What kind of person talks about a freaking _zombie apocalypse_ and then starts getting into personal questions? Was he nuts?

            Shaking his head, “No, it’s not of importance, we’re safe here on the Freedom. So you don’t have to worry about it.”

            That statement made Elyza frown. How could he think they didn’t have anything to worry about? Especially after learning that the disease was spreading fast? That she could already be carrying it? That when she died, she could come back and start killing people without even knowing it?

            Just the idea had her heart beating faster and the overwhelming sense of hopelessness brought tears to her eyes. She blinked hard and looked up into the deep blue sky, hoping that Allister wouldn’t see her breaking down.

            Allister placed a hand on her shoulder, “I know it’s hard to accept the end of the world, because that _is_ what’s happening. But we can make it through. I’ve made it through a lot of things in my life.”

            “How are we supposed to make it through this? This is an _apocalypse_ , Allister.” She rubbed the palms of her hands against her eyes, pressing hard to get rid of the tears.

            With another reassuring squeeze, Allister added, “We survive. We adapt and learn how to live in a world where we are they prey. Elyza, we are not going to be at the top of the food chain much longer. We’re going to have to learn to be the hunted.”

            “How do we do that?” Elyza turned and met Allister’s pale blue gaze, similar to her own.

            “We train, well you do. I’ve been in the Navy for more than half of my life.”

            “What do you mean train?”

            “I mean, I’ve spoken to my commanding officer and he is considering training all of the survivors that we find on shore. He wants people to be able to protect himself, but you’d have to switch ships. We have better barracks over on the USS Pearl Harbor. It would be best if you told me your decision now.” He let his hand fall off of her shoulder and leaned further over the edge of the ship.

            Elyza frowned, shaking her head. She wanted to stay, but she believed that she had learned how to survive from her dad. There were more important things to do, like finding the Jahas in Santa Monica or even going back in search of the Blakes and Finn. She had an agenda of her own and becoming a soldier for the US Navy didn’t seem like the most appealing choice.

            But before she had a chance to respond, Allister tried to sway her decision a little more, “Even if you think know what you’re doing, you don’t. You’re not ready for what’s being thrown your way.”

            “I want to get off of this ship. I need to get back on land.”

            Allister clenched his jaw, “Why do you need to go back?” He kept his eyes glued to the horizon.

            “I have to find my family,” Elyza responded strongly, with a slight edge in her voice.

            Allister sighed, “Why can’t you let us do the heavy lifting for you? Tell me where they were last and I’ll put in a word with the commander. We can look for them.”

            Sighing, Elyza rubbed her eyes. “I have to find them myself.”

            Allister growled low in frustration, surprising Elyza with the sound. But before either of them could get another word out someone approached the duo from behind.

            “Allister, what is she doing out?” it was a female voice, one that Elyza easily recognized.

            The older man stood up straighter, turned around and nodded curtly at the doctor. “Dr. A, I was informed that she was allowed access to the deck as long as I accompanied her.”

            The doctor stood straight backed with an eyebrow raised doubtfully. Elyza rolled her eyes and leaned heavily against the railing, she really did _not_ like this doctor. Dr. A’s face looked so _bored_ as if everything around her wasn’t totally collapsing and the world wasn’t coming to an end. All she really seemed worried about was getting the hell away from the patients she had.

            “Yeah, it’s not like you’re the boss here,” Elyza quipped and chewed on the inside of her cheek.

            Elyza noticed the slight flare of the doctor’s nostrils and the dangerous glint that flashed in her eyes. She smirked slightly at the effect she had on the stiff.

            “I’m in charge of my patients. Which you are one of. So I’m suggesting that you get back inside and rest because your head is not healed,” she didn’t move a single step and the stoic, nonchalant expression whipped away any sort of irritation Elyza might have elicited.

            Allister nodded stiffly, “Yes, ma’am.” He grabbed the crook of Elyza’s arm and yanked her towards the door they had exited to get outside.

            Elyza protested loudly, “Dammit, Allister, you don’t have to listen to her.” She attempted to yank her arm out of his bruising grip on her upper arm but only managed to hurt herself more. With a growl, she stumbled after him, flashing a deadly glare at the back of the doctor’s head.

            The doctor didn’t even turn around, only took the few remaining steps to the edge of the railing and leaned against it. None of the tension or stiffness exited her body as she did so, it was a very mechanical movement as if she was pretending to relax.

            Allister yanked the door open and shoved Elyza through it. She stumbled and nearly fell onto the metal landing, forgetting the small step that entered the deck. “What the hell, asshole?”

            “Sorry, she kind of freaks me out,” he chuckled and grinned like a child, a mischievous glint in his pale eyes.

            Elyza shook her head, chuckling huskily, “Yeah, okay. She’s just a stiff ass.”

            “Yeah,” he started heading down the stairs, “and you love to piss her off. Which isn’t really a smart thing.” He grinned, lightening the blow of his words. Obviously he didn’t really mind Elyza making the doctor upset.

            Unable to stop herself, Elyza grinned back and followed him down the stairs, “Do I really have to go back to the God awful room?”

            With a sigh, Allister nodded, “I have duties to attend to, sadly.”

            They both fell silent as Elyza struggled to follow the directions they took back to her living space. The information would come in handy if she ever had to escape or leave on her own. She didn’t want to have to leave, because she only really wanted to be safe, but her family came first. They always did, and the Jahas were her family.

            Once they arrived together, Allister scanned his ID card over a small sensor that lit up green once he did so. He opened the door and held it for Elyza to step in before him, but he didn’t follow after.

            “Before I go, I just thought you should know that the commander sent out a small group late last night to find your friends. If it sways your decision any, they found your friends and are bringing them back here as we speak.”

            Elyza’s heart skipped in her chest before pounding faster, “You mean you found all four of them?”

            “Yes, they were hold up safely in a secluded beach house near San Pedro, just like you said they would be. None of them were injured according to the reports we’ve been receiving so they should be back by nightfall,” Allister flashed her a small, well-meaning smile that had his eyes glistening. When Elyza didn’t respond he added, “Well, I’ll leave you to it. I’ll be back in a couple of hours with a meal for you. Don’t do anything stupid and if Dr. A stops in, don’t give her any trouble.”

            With those last words, he let the door close and left Elyza alone with her thoughts.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~  
            The very next morning, after a restless night of nightmares plagued by the walking dead on shore, Elyza awoke with another headache. She was sure it wasn’t because of her concussion because she didn’t feel sick anymore, the way she had at first.

            Even Dr. A had begrudgingly said that she seemed to be healing quickly after doing a follow up exam before dinner the night before. The doctor had actually sounded slightly disappointed, almost as if she was _hoping_ there would be some sort of deadly complication that would end in Elyza’s imminent death.

            But Elyza didn’t focus on that as she sat up, stretching her back and rubbing a hand over her greasy face. She still hadn’t gotten a chance to bath since before leaving the Jahas’ house and heading to the airport so she felt absolutely disgusting. _I’ll have to ask Allister if I’m allowed to bathe,_ she thought grumpily.

            She didn’t know what had awoke her, but nobody was entering her room. The only thing she’d managed to do when she was alone was twiddle her thumbs, worry obsessively about her family, and open and close the stupid pocket knives she’d be so graciously allowed to keep. Yeah, she might have stolen them, but they were _hers._ Nobody had a right to take them away from her.

            _But they think I’m dangerous,_ she reminded herself, smiling slightly. It would be to her advantage if they saw her as a cutthroat survivor who would do anything to keep on surviving. It made her unpredictable in their eyes.

            Unable to sit there and just stare at the blank wall in front of her, Elyza stood and stretched. She had yet to change out of the clothes the Navy had provided for her and she didn’t want to until she was able to clean the heavy layer of dirt and grime off of her skin.

            After what felt like hours of flicking the small, colorful pocket knife she’d found open and closed, nobody had come to check on her. Her thumb hurt from trying to figure out the most efficient way to open the knife so she would be able to brandish the sharp blade quicker. There were several small cuts on her fingers from when she’d lost her grip or accidentally cut herself. She finally closed the blade and stared at the colors, sighing with frustration and boredom.

            What could she possibly do that could entertain herself? She reached for the other, blue, serrated knife that was meant for more heavy duty use and opened it. To let people know that these weapons were hers, she deeply engraved _Lex_ on the lower parts of either grip. After doing so, very carefully, to the smaller one, she rubbed her thumb over it to get rid of the left over residue.

            Satisfied with the results, she continued on to the blue one before settling back down. No more than thirty minutes could have passed since she’d come up with the idea. Groaning again, she rolled out of bed and stood up, pulling her sneakers on—they had yet to provide her with combat boots, which she would have preferred.

            She made her way to the door and knocked on it, “Hey!” She shouted, “I’m still in here, you know!” She pounded her fist against it harder until she was out of breath. Once she stopped, waiting for a response and looking out through the small, round window. Her vision was tunneled by the thin white lines on either side of the glass and the heavy metal encasing it.

            Several minutes passed without a sign of anyone outside. The walls were beginning to feel like they were keeping her locked in and slowly but surely moving closer. Elyza didn’t consider herself to be claustrophobic, but she was going stir crazy sitting in that _prison_ for hours without a break.

            Taking a couple of deep breathes, she screamed as loud as she could and slammed both of her fists against the door. Once she ran out of air, she stopped, stumbling backwards at the amount of energy her tantrum had exerted. She breathed heavily and sat on the edge of her bed, trying to get rid of the lightheadedness she was feeling.

            Finally, after a couple of minutes, the pounding of several sets of boots echoed through the hallway and the vibrations reached Elyza’s feet. She stood up once the sensor beeped someone’s presence.

            The door opened quickly and a gun greeted Elyza before she saw any person. Her hair stood on end and her nerve endings fired at the base of her spine. The view at this end of the gun was wholly terrifying. She cried out and jumped out of the way, holding her hands up. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the black hole she was presented with, where a bullet could come rushing out any moment.

            Allister quickly lowered his weapon and turned around, “Its fine, guys. You can get back to your duties.” He turned back around with a red face and clenched, angry jaw. “It was a false alarm.”

            He kept the door kicked open with his foot, but still blocked Elyza’s exit. “What the hell do you think you were doing?” he spat venomously. “We thought that—somehow, an infected had gotten in here. That you were getting _killed._ ”

            Straightening her spine until she stood as tall as her 5’5” frame could manage against his 6’0”. Somehow, she even succeeded in seeming to look _down_ at him even though she was really looking up, “I want to get the _hell_ out of this damn cell. I need to bathe and I want to see the Blakes. I don’t care what any _commander_ says about it.” Her voice was dangerously low and compelling.

            Allister would have looked like he was raising a surprised eyebrow if he’d had much more than a couple of long white hairs peeking out from above his eyes. He didn’t speak for a minute, only looked in Elyza’s eyes, searching for any signs of compliance. “Fine, come on. I’ll take you to the showers.” He stepped aside and allowed her to exit before him.

            Elyza confidently straightened her back more, trying to seem as though she had not just had a mild nervous breakdown. Allister didn’t seem to think that she had, just thought it to be a ploy of hers to get their attention. She didn’t know how to get to the showers, so she hesitated after a couple of steps, waiting for Allister to lead her.

            He huffed at her, mildly annoyed at the amount of drama she went through. He replaced his pistol in its holster and gave her another small glare, “This way.”

            He turned left—in the opposite direction than they had taken the day before. Allister was guiding her deeper into the maze of the USS Freedom. Elyza desperately wanted to ask him about the Blakes and Finn, she wanted to know if they were on the ship, but knew it would be too much to ask. Allister was already majorly pissed at her anyway.

            As the silence lengthened between them, the tension become more palpable. Elyza could sense Allister’s discomfort and he finally broke the silence after taking a sharp right turn into a much more friendly area.

            “Ask,” he snapped stiffly.

            Elyza thought about saying nothing and pretending like she didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, but curiosity got the better of her. “Did my friends arrive like you said?”

            “Yes,” he sighed, “They did, but they are aboard Pearl Harbor. I need your decision now, if you want to see them today.”

            She narrowed her eyes, it was clear to her that Allister had tricked her. He had gotten her what she wanted most—well, one of the things she wanted most—and now to fully enjoy what he was giving her, he was forcing her to do what he wanted. Or what his _commander_ wanted. But it was also apparent that she really didn’t have a choice anymore.

            “Fine, I’ll stay and train or whatever it is that you want. But I’m not joining your Navy. If it’s not obvious enough, I’m not even a citizen of the United States.” The amount of irritation in her tone shocked even her, she didn’t expect to seem like such a bitch.

            With another exasperated sigh, Allister opened a round hatch and Elyza finally saw all of the people that the ship housed. There were twenty men and women that she saw—mostly men. Most of them were talking quietly and intently to each other, while a few others were making up beds or changing.

            The low hum of voices was a nice change from the almost constant silence Elyza had been experiencing for the last several days. “How many people stay on board?”

            Allister smiled a little, “Our capacity is 75, but we only have about 40 people on board. HQ didn’t want to send too many soldiers in fear that we would find pure ruin, we’ve also lost several on shore. We weren’t prepared for the dead to be alive. But now we are, and we need soldiers to help replenish our ranks.

            “I kind of think that’s why our commanding officer is being so lenient with the survivors.  We’re not sending people back to base because we need recruits. Who better than survivors, I guess?” He shrugged nonchalantly.

            The barracks they stood in were organized meticulously. Rows upon rows of twin-sized bunk beds set perpendicular to the wall. They stood small intervals apart from each other, with just enough space to put short dressers in between. There had to have been over twenty on either parallel wall.

            Only half of the beds seemed to be taken from where Elyza stood at the end of the hallway. The walls were gray and white with ridges and bumps curving into the shape of a boat. From the inside, it was a little disorienting at first but Elyza was beginning to get used to it—and the feeling of constant motion beneath her feet.

            When she didn’t reply, Allister began guiding her down the center aisle. He brought her to another door at the end of the would-be rectangular room with the sign of a woman marking which gender could use it. He stepped to the side and turned the knob, opening the door for Elyza to go through first.

            “This is where I’ll be leaving you. I will have someone bring you a change of clothes. There should already be supplies in there for you.” He nodded towards the door, urging me forward.

            Grateful for his help, she stepped around him, “Thanks, Allister. Sorry for throwing a fit earlier. I’ll be out soon.”

            Allister nodded and let go of the door. “I accept your apology. Even though you’re kind of an asshole.” The grin he provided her softened the blow as he turned away to leave.

            The bathroom looked like it was one of those communal places that you find in camps or gyms. _Or prisons,_ Elyza added bitterly. To the left there was a section blocked off by tile walls with a gap in the middle for entrance. A dozen showerheads stood on either wall with waist-high counters in between for a very minimal amount of privacy. There were only half a dozen stalls and sinks to the right for actual bathroom usage.

            Elyza didn’t know if she was going to be lucky enough to have the place to herself for long, so she took advantage of the privacy quickly. Stepping into the first shower stall, she stripped off her fatigues, tank top and undergarments until she was completely naked. The exposure was a little nerve wrecking and embarrassing but since nobody was in there with her, she tried not to pay it much mind.

            She balled up her clothes and tossed them away, grabbing at the bar of soap and bottle resting on the middle counter. Elyza grabbed the knob for the shower and pulled, turning it on. The water came out cold and she squealed, jumping back a little in surprise. But, she had to admit that it was one of the best feelings she’d had in days.

            After adjusting the temperature a little bit, she spent the next twenty minutes scrubbing her skin so hard she turned pink. She probably put way too much shampoo in her hair for it to be healthy—it would probably be brittle afterwards. If she was honest with herself, she didn’t actually care; she just wanted to be _clean._

            When she finally deemed herself dirt free, she shut off the shower—that had long gone cold. Towels were placed on a shelf embedded into the wall opposite of the showers, near the sinks. Elyza quickly scurried over to them, grabbed one and wrapped it around her dripping wet form.

            Once she was dry, she waited for someone to come with clothing—since nobody had come yet. It was over ten minutes later that a female soldier with raven black hair pulled up into a severe ponytail entered with a stack of clothes and a comb.

            Elyza tightened the towel around her chest upon the sudden entry, but leaned against the wall once she realized the person was no threat. The woman—or girl, she didn’t look much older than Elyza herself. She had dark raven-blacked hair, olive toned skin and dark brown eyes. She was wiry and thin underneath her bulky clothes, which looked too large on her anyway. But her back was stiff and straight with a soldier’s discipline.

            “Here are your clothes,” the girl said, standing a good distance from Elyza. She thrusted her arms out and Elyza took them, thanking her and squeezing the clothes to her chest. The soldier looked bored, if not even a little annoyed, at having to cater to Elyza.

            “You’re welcome.” She nodded stiffly then turned around and left just as abruptly as she had entered.  

            Elyza stood there for a second before yanking out the undergarments provided for her. She put her own bra back on because she knew there was a very unlikely chance the one they had provided her would fit. It made her feel a little dirty, but it was worth it to feel more comfortable. She would just have to remember to clean it once she got the chance.

            After she was finished dressing herself in a different—much cleaner and better fitting—set of Navy fatigues, she combed out her hair. She ran a hand through it to tousle it slightly from its straight wetness so it would dry in a much more wavy fashion.

            She finally caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror, which he had been readily avoiding. There were bags under her dull, obviously exhausted eyes. She looked drawn and her cheeks seemed sunken in, maybe she had lost weight. It wouldn’t have been a surprise though—drinking had always made her avoid food and since she had been drinking for nearly three days before getting rescued she hadn’t eaten much.

            Rubbing a hand over her face and through her hair once more, she exited the bathroom with her soiled clothes and towel in hand. The barracks she entered were practically empty—clearly the other soldiers had duties to attend to. Elyza couldn’t really expect them to just sit around. The world was ending as they knew it.

            But she didn’t have to worry about getting lost trying to find her way back, because someone was already waiting for her. It was a short, stocky female soldier standing at attention to the right of the bathroom, exposed enough for Elyza to catch sight of him instantly.

            She relaxed considerably once she noticed Elyza and flashed an easy, pearly white smile at her, “Hey there, I’m Harper. I was told to take you up to the helipad after you were finished bathing.”

            Elyza nodded, whatever would get her to Bellamy and the others fastest. “Yeah, I’m supposed to be going over to the Pearl Harbor?”

            Harper nodded her head, “That’s where I’m from, we just came over to pick you up.”

            “Perfect,” she nodded.

            “First we’ll stop by the laundry room and drop this stuff off then we’ll head out.” Harper grinned again. This girl was downright _perky_ , Elyza realized with a little bit of displeasure. She didn’t mind people being happy, but she did mind it when people were _always_ happy.

            As the two exited the barracks together, Harper began happily chatting away about how much larger the Pearl Harbor was. But the two stopped in their tracks as soon as a gunshot rang out further down the hallway.


	8. Chapter Eight: Reunited

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, guys. I hope you enjoy. I will be trying to get this caught up to FanFiction as soon as humanly possible. I keep forgetting that you guys are like...three chapters behind. Anyway, let me know what you think! For those of you who are wondering when Alicia will be showing her beautiful face, chapter 13-ish. At least, that is what I have planned. So I hope you enjoy, let me know what you think! Leave some kudos!

**_Chapter Eight: Reunited_ **

            Harper and Elyza shared a look before they both bolted down the hallway towards the direction the shot had come from. Harper’s stance shifted as she withdrew her handgun from its holster at her waist and held it up. It vaguely reminded Elyza of the times she watched crime shows and the cops swept through a potentially dangerous house.

            Without a gun of her own, Elyza quickly yanked the ever-present knife out of her pocket and flicked it open. She attempted to hold it in a way it would be most effective, but she wasn’t exactly sure how to go about doing that. She was almost certain she looked like a complete idiot next to Harper.

            She didn’t have much time to think about that before they fell upon a grim scene. A body lay bleeding out on the ground. It was pale with its arms splayed out in a way that showed the person was struggling before death. The dead person was male, with filmy blue eyes and a bloody abdomen. The face was unrecognizable due to a large bullet wound that entered through the mouth and flew through the back of the skull.

            The sight sent Elyza’s stomach clenching and she had to turn away, barely able to contain the bile that threatened to make an appearance if she kept looking. Her eyes landed on a hunched over figure against the far wall as she sucked in her breath.

            Harper was unhelpfully feeling for a pulse on the neck of the clearly deceased man. Elyza grabbed her attention and pointed to the person.

            “Hello?” Harper called, grasping her gun with both hands again. She flicked her head behind her, giving Elyza a pointed too. _Stay behind me,_ it said, but Elyza didn’t listen. She stayed put as Harper edged her way forward, “Hey, are you okay?” the soldier reached her hand out and touched the heaving shoulders of the man before her.

            He jerked and turned around. His face was nearly as pale as the corpse on the ground, but his eyes were wild and full of fear. They were dark, a steep contrast from his fair skin. “Is it—is it dead?” He asked desperately, clutching at his arm and looking around desperately. “He attacked me, I knew he was sick…but I didn’t think…I never would have…” he was gasping and hyperventilating.

            “Hey,” Elyza rushed forward and rested a hand on his shoulder until he looked at her, “breathe.” She said firmly. “It’ll be okay. You did what you had to do to survive. That’s all we ever do these days. Try to calm down and tell us what happened.” She kept her eyes firmly on the distraught man before her, unable to look anywhere else for fear of getting sick.

            Harper stood back silently, glancing around as he began to speak. “His name is—was Richard Ellison, he was a friend of mine. I was coming down to see him, he hadn’t been feeling well. He was getting a cold or something. But when I got down here and opened the door he like…attacked me. He was rabid and crazy, I tried to reason with him and I tried to fight him off. But he, well, he bit me.” He frowned, as if realizing the ridiculousness of what he was saying as he said it. “I know things are…falling apart on land, but I’ve never seen it before. Was he infected?”

            Elyza glanced at Harper, trying to process what had happened. The guy on the ground had the same eyes as the ones she had seen while on land. From Elyza’s perspective the filmy blue eyes were a sign of the infection, what she’d heard so far sounded like the Ellison guy had been infected.

            “I think so…” she replied slowly, after it looked like Harper wasn’t going to say anything. “You said he bit you? Can I see?” she held her hand out, resting her finger tips on the hand covering the wound.

            Ellison nodded and removed his shaking, bloodied hand. Elyza tilted his arm towards the light so she could see it better. He was shivering, but with what, Elyza wasn’t completely sure. _Adrenaline? Fear?_

As she examined the wound, she knew what it meant. From all of the cliché movies and what she’d experienced so far. _He was infected too._ The mark was quite obviously a bite. A large chunk of the flesh and muscle was missing, leaving a gaping, bleeding hole in the brachioradial muscle of the forearm. It was shaped in the form of a mouth and clearly ripped due to the bluntness of the teeth trying to separate it from Ellison’s body.

            Elyza was lucky she didn’t have a particularly weak stomach because she would have thrown up in that moment, looking at the injury. How Ellison wasn’t crying or freaking out even more than he already was was beyond her. _Maybe he’s too high on adrenaline to really feel the effects yet._

            Harper finally said something, “We need to report this and get you some medical attention.”

            Elyza shook her head. There was no medical attention for this wound. He was going to die. He was going to be infected and turn into one of them. “Not right now. Were there any more sick people besides your friend?”

            Ellison frowned at the question, “Not that I know of.”

            She didn’t know how to break it to him. He was doomed to die and he didn’t even realize it. How was she supposed to break that news to him? How did her mother—everyday—tell people they were terminally ill or dying?

            Taking a deep breath, Elyza tightened her hand on the muscled forearm of the man before her. She let that one breath clear her emotions and settle on what she had to do, “I’m sorry, Ellison. You won’t be able to get any help for this…after you’re bitten…you turn into one of them…You’re infected. There isn’t a cure. There’s nothing we can do to stop it.”

            Harper stepped forward, “Hell no, we can take him to the medical wing. They can patch up his wound. They can do something!”

            To Elyza’s disbelief, it was Ellison who shot down her positivity, “No. She’s right. I knew it when I got bit. You knew it too, Harper. We’ve seen the reports, we’ve been trained with how to deal with this. You need to end it. I can’t infect anyone else or it’s going to spread like a wild fire and you know it.”

            Harper shook her head, frowning and flicking the safety on her gun back on. She moved to put it away, “No. I’m not killing you. We have to get you to Medical. Now.”

            Neither Elyza nor Ellison made a move to assist her.

            “Harper, please. You have to shoot me.” He dropped to his knees. The side of his gray shirt was covered in a dark patch of his own blood. His face was splattered with—what Elyza assumed—was his attacker’s blood and he was pale from blood loss.

            Harper hesitated and shook her head, opening her mouth to say something but nothing came out. Tears clouded her eyes and Elyza noticed. She stepped forward and held out her hand. “I can do it,” she said softly. She didn’t want to seem like she was doubting Harper’s ability to solve the problem here, even though that was exactly what she thought.

            The dirty blonde attempted to plead with her again, using only her eyes because her voice couldn’t seem to work. She held the gun tightly in her hand, behind her thigh as if thinking about trying to fight Elyza over it.

            After a moment, Elyza wiggled her fingers, “Give me the gun.” She said more firmly.

            Reluctantly, Harper placed the warmed metal weapon in her hand. Elyza turned away quickly, facing the kneeling man before her. He seemed even worse; his forehead was covered in a layer of sweat and his face was even paler than before. She tried to push away her feelings, she had to do this. If the disease spread through the ship, there would be nobody left to keep safe. She would be on her own again.

            Her thumb found the safety and she played with it for a moment before doing thorough check of the gun. She examined the magazine within quickly and mechanically before turning the safety off, cocking the gun and aiming it. “I’m sorry it had to be this way.”

            Ellison had his eyes tightly closed, sweat dripped down his face and his forehead was creased. He uncovered his wound and instead, grasped the dog tag dangling from his neck. He ran a bloodied thumb over it before reopening his eyes.

            “Take this,” he yanked it from his neck, popping open the metal clasp but not breaking it and held it out. “I need someone to remember me. I want you to have it.”

            Without knowing what else to do, Elyza nodded and reached out to grab the necklace, holding it tightly in her free hand. She rubbed her thumb over the wet ridges of the engraving, trying to focus on that instead of what she had to do.

            Richard Ellison closed his eyes once again after flashing a sad, brief smile. Elyza repositioned the pistol at his head, her finger hovering uncertainly over the trigger. A moment passed.

            “Thank you,” he whispered almost imperceptibly, but Elyza heard it. Without allowing herself another moment to think, her finger closed around the trigger. The recoil jarred her arm and she winced as her shoulder popped uncomfortable. It wasn’t injured, only cracked from the sudden, slightly unexpected movement.

            The noise made Harper jump and turn away, covering her eyes as Ellison fell to the floor. Blood sprayed in every direction from the force of the bullet and Elyza came away with splatters on her face and clothes. _So much for that shower_. She rubbed her shirt over her face, staining it with blood and smearing it over her cheeks.

            “We should go.”

            “What about the bodies?”

            Elyza turned away, looking at Harper who was staring at the body before them. The blonde knew that if she continued to dwell on what she had just done, there would be tears and she really could not deal with that right now. _I need to find Bellamy, I need to focus on what I can actually do. Not what I can’t change._

            With a deep breath she flicked the safety back on the gun and shoved it into the waistband of her pants. “Leave them. There’s nothing we can do about it.”

            “But we have…we have to report this…there’s protocol to follow. Reports to fill out.” Harper sputtered, tears turning her fair skin into a splotchy mess.

            “Not now, I need to get the hell off of this ship and find my people. You need to figure out if there are any more infected on this one. If everyone knows about what’s going on they’re going to freak out. I know you’re military but everyone here has family. We’re all human, they’ll freak out.” Elyza grabbed Harper’s arm to steady her.

            Harper still seemed to be disoriented and unable to tear her eyes away from the scene before her. When she didn’t reply, Elyza jerked her arm, sending her stumbling. “Focus, Harper. You’re a soldier. Protect your people. How are you going to find out if there are any more infected on this ship?”

            The shorter blonde blinked and looked at Elyza and her eyes seemed to focus. “I can get some people to help me. They’ll know how to hack into the computer systems to find out whose visited the doctor or gotten sick.”

            “Can you trust them to keep it quiet?”

            “Yes,” Harper replied instantly, conviction evident in her voice.

            Elyza didn’t ask for any more information and pulled Harper down the hallway, back the way they had come. Together they found new clothes since theirs—particularly Elyza’s—we’re a bloody mess. They shoved their sodden ones into a bin filled with other dirty clothes and changed quickly into new shirts.

            Afterwards, Harper led Elyza back up the stairs and within fifteen minutes after her murder of Ellison, she was aboard a raft that could only contain—maybe—half a dozen people. She was set up with a life jacket and told to stay seated the entire ride.

            Elyza wasn’t at all _new_ to riding in a boat, she had grown up in a beachfront town. Her family had friends who owned boats and they would normally go out on the weekends. But she wasn’t really worried about anyone knowing that. She was careful to keep her mind away from specific memories, blocking off that part of herself seemed like the best possible idea with the situation at hand.

            The ride itself was a little rough. The driver—a total stranger—drove at a pace that sent everyone bouncing in their seats with every wave that slapped against the hull with astounding force. Elyza’s head hurt as it jolted uncomfortably every couple of seconds. She enjoyed the sea breeze and the salty smell that accompanied it, attempting to clear her conscious and head of any thoughts.

            “Are you okay?” Harper leaned up behind her and shouted in her ear. She had told Elyza that she needed to accompany her back to the Pearl Harbor and get the friends she said could assist her in further investigating the situation on the U.S.S. Freedom.

            Elyza nodded and pulled away from her, not feeling like it was necessary to provide a verbal response. She could see the Pearl Harbor—or at least the boat she _thought_ was the Pearl Harbor—growing larger in the distance. As they approached though, it grew into a hulking metal beast before her eyes. _Much_ larger than the Freedom, and much more dangerous-looking.

            There were satellite dishes sat atop the uppermost story and several other objects sticking off in many directions that Elyza didn’t know the uses for. There were a couple of life rafts and small boats hanging over the edge of ship as well. Guns and missiles were perched on the deck in several different areas as they approached and Elyza’s neck was forced to stretch backwards to capture everything.

            The much smaller boat slowed considerably and bumped lightly against the hull of the Pearl Harbor, near a Jacob’s ladder drilled against the boat. Soldiers shouted from above and the ones on the boat jumped into action, tying ropes to keep the smaller boat anchored against the larger vessel.

            Harper stood up and patted Elyza’s shoulder. “Come on, we’re the only ones getting off.” The girl seemed to have regained some of her composure from the event that had occurred and Elyza was glad for that. If she had started acting weird then their secret wouldn’t be safe.

            She stepped onto the edge of the boat, jumped up quickly and grabbed onto the ladder. Elyza watched her before tightening the straps of her backpack on her shoulders and attempting to mimic Harper’s movement.

            She managed to grip tightly at the slipper metal bars with one hand and not slip off by flexing her feet on the lower one. Once she was steady with both hands and feet firmly grasping onto the ladder, Harper began guiding her upward.

            The bars were slick with sea water and it was a difficult and wet experience climbing up the side of a ship. She didn’t know how long they kept shouldering upward, but her arms were beginning to ache.

            “Whatever you do,” Harper shouted over her shoulder, “ _don’t_ look down. Especially if you’re afraid of heights.”

            Elyza didn’t intend on looking down, but after Harper said it, she had the sudden urge to do the exact opposite of what she said. She knew it was stupid and childish to do so out of spite, but she looked down anyway. _Curse my inability to listen when someone tells me something._

            Instantly her stomach rolled and her heart jumped into her chest. Her blood felt like fire in her veins as the fear lurched through her body. She turned her face back to the gray metal of the ship, taking a couple of deep breaths to try to steady her center of gravity.

            They continued their ascension of the ship and once they reached the top, they were both helped over the railing and Elyza wanted to collapse with exhaustion. Her upper arms burned, her shoulders ached and her legs felt like Jell-O when she glanced over the edge of the ship and realized how high they had climbed.

            Leaning heavily against the railing to recover her breath, Elyza didn’t hear someone shouting her name until they were right behind her. She turned and noticed Bellamy standing a couple of feet away, Finn, Octavia and his mother slightly behind him. They were accompanied by three soldiers who seemed to be corralling the group as if to keep them in one spot.

            “Elyza?” he repeated.

            She straightened her shirt and nodded, “Yeah. Hey, how’s it going?”

            Finn chuckled, “Oh, you know, just the zombie apocalypse. No biggie deal, Dave.” He leaned his elbow on Bellamy’s shoulder casual. “How’s the whole family-search going?”

            Elyza shook her head, “Not very well. I got attacked by these bloody Navy guys. Now they’re kind of—well, they’re holding us hostage I guess.” She crossed her arms, not caring that there were several of said “Navy guys” surrounding them who gave her insulted looks.

            Maybe _these_ ones weren’t holding them hostages, but there was clearly some corruption over on the Freedom. Humans tended to become selfish creatures when their lives and ways of living were threatened. They would do anything to keep things from changing.

She glanced over Bellamy, who looked tense with a small recently acquired cut on his jaw and split lip that looked new and swollen. Finn, who looked the same as ever, even if a little worn out. Octavia just looked plain pissed, with her arms crossed and chin up, sending anyone who stepped near her a sharp glare that kept them at bay. She had a developing black eye that she wore with pride. Aurora stood by her daughter’s side, glancing cautiously around. She was the only one who didn’t seem to have any visible injuries.

            “We Navy guys saved all of your asses, so we deserve your service. This is a new world that we’re trying to survive in. People are dying left and right.” A deep, male voice resonated from the opposite side of the deck.

            Elyza turned, searching for its source. She knew she’d found it when her eyes landed upon a tall middle aged man with a graying buzz cut and a dark blue uniform. He had medals around his neck and pins along the collar of his shirt, expressing how decorated he was within his branch of the military.

            His face was heavily lined even though he didn’t look all that old, maybe his mid-thirties. He was barrel-chested with a stomach that slightly protruded over his belt. He wasn’t out of shape, but he definitely wasn’t as in shape as he possibly could be. Elyza was about to add another snarky comment when Bellamy spoke first.

            “Who are you?” he asked, keeping his eyes trained on Elyza’s before stepping in front of her and looking directly at the man. She was a little insulted by that and shouldered around him, so she could stand right next to him, their shoulders brushing. Elyza knew it was some sort of dominant man thing; he was trying to protect her. She might have thought it was sweet if she didn’t feel demeaned by the action.

            A smirk played on the soldier’s thin lips and his jaw thrusted upward in a show of authority. “I’m the commander of this fleet. Marks, Commander Marks. I had my men rescue you from certain death at the hands of those undead creatures. I should be accepting proper appreciation from you, yet you’re out here insulting my soldiers.”

            Bellamy raised up his hands, palms facing outwards to placate the angered commander. “We do appreciate everything you’ve done for us, Commander.”

            Elyza couldn’t stop the snarky addition from escaping, “But I was completely capable of taking care of myself. Your soldier knocked me unconscious—”

            “ _After_ killing an infect that was ready to kill you. Appreciation, Ms. Lex. You should be grateful we saved you.” He clasped his hands behind his back. His shoulders were strong and broad, relaxed but alert all at the same time. The commander was the epitome of in control, while Elyza was slowly beginning to bubble with rage. She tried to tamp it down; she knew the commander was only trying to bait her.

            She crossed her arms over her chest and clenched her jaw tightly to refrain from saying anything insulting, “I am grateful that your men saved my life.” _But the indent in my head begs to differ._

            The commander nodded, stepping closer to the two teenagers pressed close together. The smirk was still on his lips as his eyes analyzed the new members of his ship. He wanted to integrate them, to turn them into a working part of the system he had created aboard his fleet. They all needed to work together to survive this disaster and he was willing to do anything to live.

            After a moment of silence Marks spoke again, his voice louder so everyone within earshot could hear, “You will be lead to the barracks and settled into a recruit wing. You will have the day to catch up and come to terms with your new rolls on this ship. Tomorrow your training begins. You will also be given work duties for when you are not training.”

            With the end of the sentence soldiers jumped into action. Harper stepped up cautiously to Elyza. “Come on, I’ll show you guys to your room.” She looked like she was going to reach out to touch Elyza’s shoulder, but thought better of it and lowered her arm. Their eyes met and an unspoken _we need to talk_ passed between them.

            Clearly Harper wanted to talk to her about what she was going to do once she got back to the other ship. It was odd how quickly she’d begun treating Elyza as a leader and respected peer. Maybe it was because she had done something Harper was too afraid to do. _A mercy kill,_ Elyza struggled to convince herself.

            Bellamy nodded at her and the five of them followed Harper down into the depths of the ship. They were lead through twists and turns, down staircases and through doors. _This is going to be hard to navigate,_ Elyza thought, trying to come up with a way to map herself through this place.

            If they ever needed to leave—or escape—they would have to find a way to get out without the help of other soldiers. She thought about marking corners, but how would they do it so discreetly that nobody really noticed them? They could carve in notches or letters in the upper corners. But how would they start doing that without others noticing?

            Elyza’s mind ran at a mile a minute and Finn noticed, slowing his steps until he matched hers. Harper was up ahead, talking adamantly to Octavia and Aurora, pointing out different areas of the ship as they moved. It oddly reminded Elyza of her University tour back when she first started, which made her uncomfortable thinking about due to the new, much more dangerous circumstances she was in now.

            “You think too much, Aussie,” Finn nudged her shoulder.

            She narrowed her eyes, “I’m just trying to come up with a way to map this place out the easiest way possible.”

            “Why? Because you want to know where to go? Or because you need to know how to escape? Think about it, Aussie, these guys are trained in military survival. If we stay here, they’ll train us and keep us safe. We’re not out there fighting for our lives. This seems like the best situation to me.” He shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets. He flashed Elyza a flirty half smile, she knew he was trying to flirt, but she wasn’t into it. In fact, she wasn’t into his gender at all.

            She rolled her eyes at him and mimicked his stance, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jacket. “I was thinking we could find a way to mark the corners and doors, but I was still wondering how to do that without the other soldiers noticing.” She lowered her voice considerably, sending a sideways look at Harper. Every time Elyza thought about staying on the Pearl Harbor for a long period of time her stomach twisted, as if she knew they wouldn’t be lasting out there long.

            Maybe she was just being pessimistic, but there was just a _very_ bad feeling settling into the core of her being.


	9. Chapter Nine: The Pearl Harbor

_**Chapter 9: The Pearl Harbor** _

Harper finally stopped about ten minutes into the tour and Elyza tuned back in to what she was talking about. “—so we’re finally at the barracks. I’ll leave you guys in here to get settled in. I’ll be back in about an hour or two to bring you to the mess hall. You guys can have some lunch and then we’ll leave you to rest. There are showers through the far door on the left if you need to use the restroom.” She gestured halfheartedly further down the hall the way they had come.

The blonde girl sidled her way around Bellamy and between Elyza and Finn before making her exit. Her hand caught Elyza’s and suddenly the blonde was holding a small sheet of paper in her fist. She closed her hand around it and shoved them both back into her pockets, trying to seem as nonchalant as possible.

After Harper disappeared around a corner, Octavia pushed the door open and tossed the shoulder bag she had on her onto the nearest bunk. The area looked very similar to the one Elyza had been in before she’d showered over on the Freedom. She assumed she couldn’t expect much difference because it was set up so efficiently.

Bellamy stepped around Octavia and everyone filed in afterwards. They each found a bunk near each other. Elyza would have felt more comfortable near the back where she could keep an eye on everything. But she guessed that she could deal with if they were close to the exit.

Octavia and Bellamy bunked together, the brother and sister bickering over who got the bottom bunk until Octavia threatened to hurt Bellamy. Aurora bunked alone on the lower one next to her daughter and son. Elyza ended up with Finn, who called top bunk excitedly and hoisted himself up and settled down, giggling like a little boy.

"I’ve never had a bunk bed before,” he leaned over the side, looking down at Elyza like the Cheshire cat. A huge grin was plastered on his face and his hair hung over, making him look a little crazy.

Elyza laughed, a little bit of the tension leaving her body. She pushed his face away, “Stop being weird.” She pulled her bag off and opened her bag, placing her book on the bedside table provided. Above her, Finn had a small table that folded down from against the wall.

Continuing to pull everything out of her bag, she settled herself onto the bed. It felt the same as the one that was in her little cell back on the Freedom, uncomfortable and thin. She lined up the two knives she’d collected and slid the smaller one underneath her pillow and the other into the folds of a set of fatigues that she shoved into the lower drawer of the bedside table.

She only had a few items of clothing: two tank tops, two pairs of pants, her leather jacket, the pajamas she’d had since the airport, two bras, and three pairs of underwear. She couldn’t fit everything into the shallow single drawer she was provided with, so whatever didn’t fit was shoved back into the backpack and under the bed.

With a deep breath, she glanced around at the rest of her friends, ensuring that they were busying themselves with something or other and not focused on her. Elyza pulled out the sheet of paper that Harper had given her, wondering when she had found the time to write whatever it was that was on it. She toyed with the edges for a second before unfolding it and reading the rushed script.

_Find me after dinner. I will be leaving for the Freedom tonight. You can meet my friends who will be helping us._

Elyza really didn’t understand why Harper had decided to include her further because she was just a simple citizen. She’d assumed Harper would do the soldierly thing and figure out what had happened, Elyza didn’t really think that she’d have to tell her to. But, it was evident that Harper was young and inexperienced and most likely scared completely shitless.

So it was obviously up to Elyza to help keep her from going completely crazy. She didn’t know what it was, but she had a tendency to go out of her way to protect people, some she didn’t even know. Her father used to say it was because she had too big of a heart and felt like she needed to help everyone who was in trouble. It wasn’t always a bad thing, she knew, but it wasn’t always a good thing either. Sometimes it got her into some serious trouble.

Right now, it seemed like it was going to get her into a world of trouble.

Elyza felt oddly at peace, though, even if things were still completely insane. She shifted and settled herself down against the single pillow that she was provided. Thoughts of her mother were still festering in the back of her mind, and the Jahas were there too, but right now she had people that she cared about. People that she needed to take care of.

She tried to convince herself that the only three people she considered family were safe somewhere. That the infection hadn’t hit Australia and her mom was safe and blissfully unaware of what was going on. But she knew that was impossible, her mom had expected her home a long time ago. She was probably worried sick. _Or dead._

With a shudder, Elyza stood up, trying to force herself to not think about her mom. _Focus on what you can do with what you’ve been provided. Stop wondering about the” what if”s._

She rubbed her forehead and walked over to Bellamy, needing to do something other than loiter. “We need to come up with a plan.”

The boy was laying on his back, an arm thrown over his eyes. He was the epitome of relaxed and sighed when he heard Elyza’s voice, “A plan for what?” he asked tiredly.

Octavia peaked up at Elyza, “Yeah, for what?”

“For an escape, for getting out of here.” She still had that horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. Whether it was Marks or what was going on aboard the Freedom she wasn’t quite sure. All she knew for certain was that they needed to be _away_ before the shit really did hit the fan.

Bellamy removed his arm from face and gave Elyza a pointed look. His brown eyes were hard and unwavering, “We’re not going anywhere. This is a good place to stay. We’re safe here.”

A small part of Elyza did still agreed, but a much larger part had to keep moving. It needed to, or else she would think too hard and end up depressed over her mother, Wells and Thelonious. She had no family left it seemed, not if she was going to be staying on that ship and become and unofficial soldier of the US Navy. _I only have these guys._

She knew she could survive out there, on the mainland. She’d been doing it—albeit not in the best way—but she was doing it. She could have made it to Santa Monica, she could have found her family but she’d decided to wallow in her own self-pity. It was all her own fault that she was there and not with them. They could be dead no thanks to her.

Maybe it was because she was blaming herself that her stomach felt so twisted and nauseous. She felt so incredibly guilty for everything that had happened so far, it was hard for her to keep her head on straight.

“Fine, we’re not leaving. Yet. But we’re marking corners so we can find our way around.” She would not alter her decision. They needed to know the fastest way to get out of the damn ship. She would _not_ be letting her guard down at all. They weren’t safe.

Rolling his eyes, Bellamy ran a hand through his hair and covered his face again, “Fine, whatever. I don’t really care. I just want to sleep.”

“Fine,” Elyza growled in frustration, annoyed at his lack of initiative. “You can tell me about what’s been going on with you guys once you wake up, I guess.”

He grunted in response and rolled so his back was facing her. _Fucking twat,_ she thought bitterly and turned her back on him.

Aurora stood, looking at Elyza, “I’m going to freshen up in the showers.” She nodded at her daughter before exiting the barracks.

Octavia climbed out of bed, “I can tell you what we went through after you left if you want.”

Elyza gave her a once over. She seemed different, maybe being out there had affected her more than someone would think. Octavia’s head was held higher and a stubborn tick flexed in her jaw whenever someone treated her like she was a child. Her temper seemed to have shorted in the amount of time it took the apocalypse to set in.

“Alright. So what happened?” Elyza leaned against the bed post and allowed her full attention to rest on Octavia.

The younger girl proceeded to describe what had happened. The group had woken up to a knock on their front door. Military people were moving in and establishing safe zones all over the city. Their neighborhood was one of them, so they were all inspected and tested for the disease. But Bellamy still wanted to leave, he didn’t want the soldiers to learn who he was because there was a likely chance he would be detained and sent to prison for desertion. Even though it was likely that he wouldn’t, given the situation, Octavia clarified.

Bellamy made a grunting noise when he was mentioned but didn’t throw in his own two cents on the subject.

Octavia continued, saying how they had snuck out that night during a shift change. Fences had started being erected but not completely enclosing the several mile radius so they managed to get away in the black of night. They’d made it to the beach house and after a small run for supplies that ended in Finn almost getting bitten and Octavia acquiring her first infected kill, they settled in.

It was all pretty calm after that, until a couple of days later their house was raided. They tried to resist at first because they didn’t realize their attackers were military. That was how Octavia had contracted her black eye and Bellamy his split lip. They were the two that had resisted while Finn stayed back with Aurora. After things settled down they were told that they were being rescued, with guns pointed at their heads and bloodied faces.

At first, Bellamy was skeptical but they didn’t really have a choice when they were loaded onto a small speed boat and all of the useful food and supplies they had gathered were taken. They made it to the ship not all that long before Elyza had been brought on board and here they all were.

“But,” Octavia concluded, “I didn’t know how they’d found us until you showed up. Why did you tell them where we were?”

“I thought they could keep you guys protected,” Elyza said.

That riled Bellamy up, who hadn’t been sleeping at all, but silently listening to his sister speak. He laughed humorlessly, “You thought they could protect us? When you’re trying to get us to leave? You don’t trust them, Lex. But, I do think they can keep us safer than being on shore.”

Elyza’s jaw clenched. Okay, fine, maybe she’d wanted them there for her. Not because she thought that the soldiers would keep the Blakes safe, but because she wanted them there. She wanted people she thought she could trust. She also felt like she had abandoned them, because she had been so desperate to find the Jahas. But that didn’t mean she was going to let Bellamy know that was how she felt. It was selfish and it put them at the same risk she was in.

“Yeah, well, it’s better to be on a ship as far away from the dead as possible, than to possibly get attacked and overrun,” she shot him a look that he couldn’t see because his eyes were still closed.

He didn’t give her the pleasure of a response and continued to act like he was asleep.

Octavia scoffed and then laid back against her pillow. “I’m going to sleep too. It’s been crazy these last couple of days.”

Elyza nodded and turned away, “Alright. I’ll let you sleep.” She walked back over to Finn, who was already curled up under his blanket on the top bunk and snoring.

She rolled her eyes, maybe she had brought them onto the ship for her own selfish reasons, but she wasn’t expecting such a negative response. She’d expected them to be a little more desperate than they actually were and maybe a little more grateful than they were acting. But she couldn’t really put it past them, they didn’t know her and she had left them after they had selflessly risked their lives for her. Could they really trust _her_ after what she’d done?

Laying back down on her bed, Elyza opened her Harry Potter book to the page she’d been on only six days ago at the airport. If she was completely honest, it felt like a life time ago. Everything had flipped upside down so quickly and here she was, trying to feel as normal as possible by reading a book.

She tried to lose herself in the story line, but knew it was no use. Her mind was running at a mile a minute, and she didn’t think magic and wizards was going to stop it. She briefly thought about trying to find Harper, but remembered she probably would just get lost and end up looking like an idiot. Quickly tossing the idea, she struggled to return her attention to the book. But, after a couple of minutes of rereading the same paragraph because she couldn’t remember what she was reading, she slammed the book shut with a huff.

_How am I going to keep moving forward?_ She thought, trying to push the thoughts of her mother as far away from the forefront of her mind as possible. She couldn’t continue to dwell over the _what ifs_ or the _maybes._ She had to deal with what she had in front of her. She had to protect those she was beginning to care about and survive the end of the world

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to get you guys caught up. Once again, let me know what you think! Also, this is kind of a filler chapter. ~TGF


	10. Chapter Ten: It Never Ends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, friends. This is going to start getting intense after this chapter, just a little warning! ~TGF

**_Chapter Ten: It Never Ends_ **

That evening, Elyza realized how incredibly nervous she was. It took them nearly twenty minutes to find the mess hall even after asking someone for direction. When they arrived, it felt like high school all over again. It oddly reminded Elyza of being the new kid. She didn’t know where she was allowed to sit, but the sting of loneliness was lessened by having Octavia standing next to her in line.

The food wasn’t the most appetizing, but there was a limited supply so Elyza didn’t really feel like she had the right to complain. It was delicious though, especially since she didn’t know if she would be going without food any time soon. There was a chance something could go wrong and she’d be fighting for her life again.

Octavia drew her out of her thoughts as they took a seat at a secluded round table, “So what did you do after you left?” Clearly she was trying to be as non-judgmental as possible by making her voice sound light and conversational. But it was obvious that she wanted to know why Elyza had abandoned them so quickly.

Elyza didn’t think it would be a good idea to tell her that she’d been drinking her sorrows away, so she went with a much less depressing story. “I was on my way to Santa Monica and holed up in a storage unit one night when I heard some noises and went to investigate. I got into some trouble with an infected and some of these guys saved me. Then I woke up here.”

Octavia nodded, but didn’t comment on her story—which Elyza was grateful for—and instead decided to shovel food into her mouth. Bellamy, Finn and Aurora followed soon after, sitting down across from the two girls. There wasn’t much discussion as the five took in their surroundings—their new home.

Almost every sailor was in the mess hall, and there wasn’t many. A maximum of sixty people surrounded them, all talking to each other while others ate in silence. There wasn’t as much light and cheer as one would think, maybe because the weight of the current world situation was too serious to make jokes at.

Elyza could understand that, it took a while to wrap your mind around a situation you’d only watched in movies or read about in books. _People getting sick, dying and then coming back capable of getting other people sick through biting. This is a TV show everyone loves, but nobody wants to be a character in_ , Elyza mused silently.

After a while, Elyza noticed that Harper had entered the mess hall with two guys following behind her. The two girls made brief eye contact before Harper stepped away to get food, which gave Elyza the chance to see who her two friends were.

One was a tall, lanky man—no, boy—with shaggy brown hair and heavy fatigues hanging off of his body. His eyes were large and kind of bulged out of his head, he had a not so attractive five o’clock shadow on hollow cheeks. He was angular and continued to hop on the balls of his feet, clearly jittery for some unknown reasons. Elyza thought he looked like the type of guy to be doing something illegal and being unable to get away with it.

The other boy—that was the only way she could describe the two—was much shorter with dark black hair the swooped into his eyes. His eyes were dark and he continued to look down at the ground, standing close to the taller boy. His shoulders were held back with a ridge confidence though, even if he was acting meek. Elyza had a feeling that the sweet, innocent look of his was more of a cover that people underestimated.

“What are you looking at, Aussie?” Finn leaned over and touched her arm. She jumped away and returned her attention to the people before her.

“Hmm?” she asked, before processing what he said, “Oh, nothing. I’m just watching everyone.”

Finn’s eyebrows came together, “That’s kind of creepy.”

“No its not,” Bellamy added, “It’s good to sit back and watch and _listen_ instead of talking all of the time, Collins. You can learn a lot about people from body language.”

Octavia rolled her eyes, “Alright, Mr. Philosophy. He was just trying to lighten the damn mood. Relax.”

The group fell in to silence again, silently eating their food. Elyza shoveled the gruel into her mouth mechanically, she didn’t taste anything. Her mind continued to run a mile a minute.

Nobody seemed at all interested in befriending the new crew members, so the five managed to slip away together once they had all finished eating. Elyza didn’t know how to describe her relationship with the rest. They had all known each other beforehand and saved Elyza, who just so happened to be there. She didn’t know if they trusted her—they probably didn’t, but this epidemic was something that forced people to make decisions they weren’t sure were the best. She didn’t know if she trusted them either, but she really didn’t have any choice but they hadn’t done anything for her to doubt them. She had no control over her fate anymore.

They returned back to their secluded living space and—still, nobody spoke. Elyza tried to think of a way to get away from them so she could go back and see Harper.  Finn slid up onto the upper bunk and flashed Elyza a tight lipped smile, “I’m going to bed.” He wasn’t his usual, lighthearted self.

Elyza only sent a single nod his way before glancing back at Bellamy who was sitting on the edge of his bed. Octavia had already silently rolled over and covered herself protectively with her blanket. Aurora kissed Bellamy on the forehead and smiled softly at him, murmuring something Elyza couldn’t hear. She quickly settled down on her bed and curled up into a similar position as Octavia.

_I can wait until everyone’s asleep and then sneak out,_ she thought, _and I’ll act like I’m going to shower so I’m not suspected._ She didn’t exactly know why she was keeping this from the rest of the group, but felt like it was needed. They wanted to feel safe and so telling them that there was a possible outbreak on another ship would seriously endanger that feeling. So she kept her mouth shut and swore to deal with this on her own, with Harper’s assistance.

Elyza continued to watch, curling her legs up underneath herself and attempting to get comfortable on the creaky bed. Bellamy was stressed out—she could tell. She hadn’t really thought about it before, but he probably felt like it was his responsibility to keep his family alive; his sister and mother. _He’s ‘the man of the house’,_ Elyza thought. He probably had this impression that the responsibility rested on his shoulders and his alone.

Elyza herself didn’t know how she would feel if she had her mother or the Jahas with her. Would she feel the weight of that same responsibility? She didn’t think so, her mother always wanted to take care of her. _Everyone_ always wanted to take care of her, because they thought she wasn’t capable of doing it herself.

Well, except her father. He had always known that she was capable of great things. Jake would always encourage her to do her very best. He pushed her, sometimes when she didn’t want to be pushed—which caused arguments—but he always seemed to _know_ that she could do things that she wasn’t even sure of herself.

Bellamy caught her eyes as he stretched his back and yanked off his jacket and t-shirt to reveal a white tank top underneath. She didn’t say anything, only held eye contact for a moment before he broke it and turned off the light and the room was flooded with darkness. The blonde wasn’t able to catch a glimpse of whatever emotions flashed across the boy’s face, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

She rolled onto her side, her hand subconsciously finding the cold, smooth metal of the kaleidoscope colored pocket knife. She ran her thumb over it, tracing the engraving of her initials before shutting her eyes and pretending to find sleep.

~   ~   ~

It was nearly an hour later when she reopened her eyes and sat up, pulling the knife from under her pillow and shoving it into her pocket next to Harper’s note. She grabbed a pair of pants from the drawer next to her and carefully pulled herself out of bed, trying to avoid as much creaking as possible.

Elyza straightened her body and glanced at Finn, whose back was to her. He was breathing steadily and she heard small snores escaping his lips. She held her breath, straining her ears as she listened for any irregular noises. Nothing moved. Everything was silence except for the noises of the ship.

She clutched the clothing close to her chest and slowly walked towards the door. The hallway was well lit and the light flooded through a vertical rectangular window, casting a yellow glow over the sleeping forms in the room. Taking a deep breath, Elyza turned the handle and pulled it open slowly. Not wanting to risk making noise, she slipped through when the crack was wide enough and clicked the door shut once again behind her.

Nearly blinded, she waited a second, leaning against the wall for her eyes to adjust to the new brightness. She rubbed the drowsiness from her face and glanced around. _Where would Harper be?_ She thought.

The girl _knew_ that Elyza wouldn’t know how to get around the ship and she also didn’t know where the other blonde’s room was. She would have found a hidden place nearby and would be waiting for Elyza to find her.

Deciding that wandering towards the mess hall would be her best bet, Elyza headed in that direction. It was a few minutes later, after she’d probably missed a turn or ended up turning the wrong way that a door slammed and a hand grabbed her arm, yanking her into a side room. A strangled cry of surprise escaped before she could muffle it and a hand was over her mouth.

The person holding her smelled like vodka and dirty laundry and their hand felt rough against her face. “It’s just us, Elyza. Don’t worry.” Harper stepped into her line of vision and the hand slowly left her mouth.

Elyza shook the person off of her, shoving him away hard. “You didn’t have to fucking jump me.” The tall, lanky boy from earlier had been the one to grab her.

“Sorry, we didn’t mean to scare you.”

Huffing, Elyza straightened her clothes. “You didn’t scare me…you just caught me by surprise. There’s a difference.”

The short, Asian guy stepped forward and held out a handheld radio, “There really isn’t a difference. But anyway, that’s not the point of this meeting.” He turned away once Elyza had a firm grasp on the radio. He began speaking quickly, forcing Elyza’s tired brain working hard to keep up. “That radio is so we can keep in touch with each other from the Freedom. Harper will have the other. If you need to get in touch with her use the signal button on channel 7, there isn’t anyone using that one at this time.”

He began pacing back and forth, running fingers through his hair. Honestly, Elyza hadn’t expected so many words to come out of him. He seemed like one of those quite types that didn’t say much, but when he did, you really should pay attention. So that was what she did.

After taking a breath, he stopped pacing and continued talking, “Jasper, Harper and I are going to be boarding the Freedom tomorrow morning at 0600 hours. Which is six o’clock.” He paused and glanced at Elyza, as if to say _if you’re even getting this._

“I know what 0600 hours means.” She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms with irritation.

Harper rested a hand on the Asian’s arm, “Alright, Monty. I think I can take it from here. I think your nerves are getting the best of you.”

“Yeah, Green. Calm down, it’s not like we’re totally going against orders or anything to help some Australian chick we don’t even know.” Jasper quipped from his relaxed position against the wall. He seemed less jittery than when he’d been in the mess hall.

Harper crossed her arms and shot the shaggy guy an annoyed look, “Shut up, Jasper. You weren’t there and you haven’t been on shore. You have no idea what the hell is going on out there. It’s nothing good.”

Jasper kicked off the wall and glared, his back straightening with tension, “I don’t know what’s going on on shore?” He was nearly shouting. The venom and anger and underlying hurt in his voice made Elyza jump. “I was having a good old conversation with my girlfriend on the phone after nearly a _month_ and told her everything was fine. Next thing I know she’s screaming and crying and shouting for my help. I listened _helplessly_ while she was devoured by one of those _infect_.” He snapped bitterly. “So I know what the hell is going on. I’ve just stopped giving a shit.”

The dark room fell silent and Elyza played with the button on the pants in her arms awkwardly. What the hell do you say to that? _I’m sorry,_ just didn’t seem to cut it. She was painfully reminded of her mother in that moment, but forced herself to push it down. They needed to stay focused on the task at hand.

She stepped forward, “Alright, you get what’s going on. This infection spreads quickly. Harper and I ran into a dead infected yesterday aboard the Freedom after it had already bitten another guy whom we then killed ourselves to prevent further spreading. But, from what I’ve noticed and heard this disease is seriously contagious and it’s aboard a ship in the middle of the ocean. We need you guys to figure out if anyone else is getting sick and find a way to get rid of those who are quietly so we don’t scare the rest of the sailors. Can you do that?”

After a moment of silence Monty cleared his throat and nodded, “I can easily hack into the doctor’s system and scan through. Then I can isolate who is sick and who isn’t. But if there are a lot of sick people, I don’t know how we’ll get rid of them quietly.”

“We could just blow the ship. It might be the better plan,” Jasper piped up.

Elyza shook her head, “We try to save as many people as possible first. That’s the back up.”

Jasper huffed a sigh of annoyance, “Fine. I can get Reyes to come up with something that we can take with us if we have to blow it.”

“Who’s Reyes?” Elyza wasn’t sure that she liked so many people knowing about what was going on.

“Raven is an engineer in the engine room,” Harper supplied, “She has an explosion obsession.”

“That sounds dangerous.”

“Yeah, well, this whole situation is dangerous. We live in a dangerous world now,” Monty said.

The four fell silent. Jasper had settled himself back against the wall and had his eyes closed while Harper and Monty stood shoulder to shoulder. Elyza was still stuck near the door, tense and glancing between the three strangers.

“Can we go to bed? Its late and we have to be up early,” Jasper complained.

Harper nodded, “Yeah, we can.” She then turned her attention back to Elyza. “Remember what Monty said about the radio. Keep it hidden. We’ll check in every day before dinner over here. If anything happens that you need to know about we’ll send two long signals, okay?”

Elyza nodded, “Got it. Be safe, alright?” She wished she could offer more. She wished she could help because she didn’t feel like trusting any more people. They were all stuck in a tin death trap if that disease caught them. There was no telling if anyone would be able to escape and Elyza didn’t want to risk it.

Both Monty and Harper nodded, Jasper seemed to have fallen asleep against the wall. Elyza finally turned and opened the door, stepping back into the yellow light of the corridor. Her heart was beating faster than normal and she was scared for the three young sailors. They didn’t seem to be older than herself and it was beginning to worry her. Could they really do this?

She didn’t like relying upon other people, but she didn’t really have a choice with the current situation. Being independent and taking care of things on her own was what she was used to doing and giving up that control made her feel anxious. Part of this anxiety was the possibility that her life and the life of her friends were in the hands of three strangers.

With a deep breath, Elyza pulled herself away from the wall and ran a hand through her hair. Harper exited the room and looked at her appraisingly, “I thought you could use an escort back.”

Nodding, Elyza said, “Definitely.”

Harper guided Elyza through the twists and turns of the Pearl Harbor before they returned to a familiar corridor. At the very end, Harper stepped to the side. “We’re here.”

Elyza stepped forward and squeezed Harper’s arm with her empty hand. “Seriously, be safe…” she hesitated for a second before adding, “and don’t hesitate to shoot next time.” She didn’t wait to hear a reply before sneaking back into the barracks.

Walking on her tiptoes to her bed, Elyza slid open the drawer next to her bunk and slipped the radio in, covering it with the pants. She closed it again as softly has possible before settling back down on the thin, creaky bed. She laid back and tried to relax, but her nerves from the late night meeting and the impending mission for the three sailors kept her mind racing. It took nearly another hour before she was able to calm her thoughts and fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope you enjoyed that! Let me know what you think! Thoughts, feelings, ideas for where this can go from here. How do you think Alicia is going to be introduced? How do you think she should be introduced. LET ME KNOW! I live for comments!


	11. Chapter Eleven: Downfall

**_Chapter Eleven: Downfall_ **

The next day, they received their assignments. Bellamy would be placed on patrol duty when he wasn’t training since he had experience within the military. Finn was given cleaning duty, Octavia and Elyza were told they would work in the kitchens to prepare dinner. Aurora was told she would be staying on board and would not have to do training, only work as a laundry lady.

The group was woken up so early that the sun had barely begun its ascension into the sky when they appeared on deck. Elyza briefly wondered if Harper, Monty and Jasper were already on the water, on their way over to the Freedom before returning her attention to the situation at hand. The ground beneath Elyza’s feet was slick with dew and the sky was grey, the beginning tinges of orange lighting up behind the dead city before her.

A middle-aged man with a tired face, wavy brown hair and a scruffy, curly beard was to be their trainer. He was tall and in shape, his shoulders broad and large. He had a strong chest, a slim waist and walked with a swagger only found on people who knew they were attractive. He didn’t act cocky or rude, but held an air of confidence that drew people in. His name was Lieutenant Kane.

He talked them through what they would be experiencing when training started. They would begin with conditioning; getting the group into shape, then they would start with hand-to-hand combat. He told them they wouldn’t be experiencing the full training experience. They would only be learning the basics of using a gun and how to get out of a close-combat situation.

It was too bad Elyza already knew how to do most of those things, but the types of guns the soldier showed them did seem more complex than the simple Glock she was accustomed to. Kane showed them an automatic and walked them through how to reload, turn off the safety and plenty of other things Elyza didn’t really understand.

The next five days passed by in a structured blur. Wake up. Early conditioning. Breakfast. Combat training. Lunch. Weapons training. Assigned work duty. Dinner. A call from Harper. Sleep. There wasn’t much time for socializing, but Elyza did accomplish mapping out what little she could of the ship

With the help of Octavia and Finn, she was able to steal several multi-colored rolls of electrical tape from the engine storage room and place small patches at corners and interchanging hallways on several of the Pearl Harbor floors. Bellamy disapproved of what they were doing, but didn’t stop them. He knew they were safe where they were, but it wouldn’t really be a bad thing to have a plan if things did go south.

Harper called in every night at around seven after dinner. She’d informed Elyza after the second day that Monty was almost through hacking into Dr. Rebecca’s system and would be able to write down anyone who had been sick within the last couple of day. After the third day, the only things Elyza got were high pitched tones indicating that someone was there but they didn’t have time to talk.

That continued to happen through the fifth day. Elyza’s nerves began to tingle after the fourth day and her stomach felt as if they were in knots when all she got the fifth night was another tone. Were they okay? Could they have gotten hurt? Discovered? Were there things going on that she hadn’t foreseen?

The day was beginning to turn into night on the sixth day of their liberation and Elyza was still feeling anxious. The entire group—excluding Elyza—had begun to relax and trust the other crew members. They even sat with a couple of other soldiers they’d grown comfortable with—Raven Reyes being one of them. She’d introduced herself as the Genius Mechanic and didn’t lack in the confidence department.

Elyza had just finished serving food and Octavia was going to be stuck in the back doing dishes once everyone was finished eat. But she’d opted to sitting down and eating food with her new family until everyone left the mess hall. That meant Octavia would be working late into the night cleaning.

Raven was giggling and leaning heavily against Finn, who was laughing at something she had said. Elyza sat quietly, deciding to observe rather than participate in the conversation, her leg jittering impatiently underneath the table. Bellamy sat quietly too, eating his food with his shoulders hunched. His dark eyes scanned the faces of his table mates until they landed on Elyza, who was looking at him already.

Elyza gave him a small nod and he responded in kind. They’d begun to learn how to read each other after spending some time talking. They both felt as though it was their responsibility to take care of their friends and Bellamy’s family. Together, they came to the conclusion that they needed to work together to get those things done.

But, Elyza had reluctantly decided not to tell him about Harper because it wouldn’t do any good. She’d deduced that it would be useless to inform him because their plan was already rolling. So she stayed silent and waited edgily for news. Any news.

Halfway through eating, an alarm went off. Elyza nearly jumped out of her skin she was so on edge and deep in her own head. The entire room’s feeling shifted as sailors stood up, glancing around with frowns on their faces. A crackling and then static came on over an invisible intercom, “All sailors are needed on deck, all sailors on deck.”

The other soldiers quickly stood, their faces a mask of seriousness. Food was disregarded and boots thudded heavily on the deck as sailors rushed together towards the stairs.

It took Elyza and the rest of her friends a few moments to realize what was going on. Raven was the one who grabbed Finn’s arm and began speaking quickly, “That means there are hostiles on the water. Or something has happened that requires all hands on deck. Obviously.”

Elyza frowned and stood quickly, her hand falling to her pants pocket where her blue pocket knife was clipped—her only means of protection. Lieutenant Kane hadn’t allowed anyone in the group to carry loaded weapons besides Bellamy, because he didn’t believe that they were trained enough to be allowed to. Elyza had argued on the subject until she was punished with extra laps and a grueling obstacle course.

The six of them were the last to land on deck, so it took some muscle to push through the crowd of bodies. Everyone seemed fixated on looking towards the city, but Elyza couldn’t see over enough people to get a good view of what was occurring. Her heart pounded with nerves, she briefly thought about the radio that was hidden in her drawer. Would she be able to slip away and grab it?

 She managed to elbow people out of her way until she saw it. The city was ablaze before her. Fires licked up towards the sky and small boats were drifting away from the shore. She couldn’t see any people from the distance, but she knew they were there. The city was officially falling after days of complete silence. This was something she had not expected. She’d thought that land was settling and there wasn’t anything to worry about. Or maybe she’d just been so focused on the Freedom she hadn’t thought about the billions of people on land. Dying and coming back. There were billions of undead searching for human flesh and it seemed like they had found it.

A resounding boom echoed and the reoccurring _ratatatat!_ of machine guns indicated the presence of living people. Elyza didn’t know what to think, people were out there fighting and they were just standing there. She felt like they needed to do something. Anything. But she also felt like she _really_ needed to get to that damn radio and try to communicate with Harper or Monty or even Jasper.

Someone shouldered their way next to her, bringing her thoughts back to the present and the familiar sound of Bellamy’s voice pulled her eyes away from the scene before her, “We need to help them.”

“Yeah, we do. But how? We’re not the ones in charge here, Bellamy.” She crossed her arms over her chest as the brisk temperature became apparent. Her mind was racing, maybe she could slip away amidst the chaos.

The voice of the Commander broke through her thoughts, “Line up, sailors. We are to send out search parties. The city is falling and we are here to save as many people as we can. Lieutenant Kane will separate you into groups and your unit leaders’ will be in control of the rescue boat.”

Everyone rushed to follow their Commander’s orders, lining up in rows that Bellamy and Elyza weren’t familiar with. Raven attempted to organize them, but it was no use. They were like untrained puppies that didn’t know which way was left or right.

The Commander sauntered over to the scattered group, “Lex, Collins, Blakes! You will be with Reyes, she will guide you through the search and rescue protocol. Dismissed.”

Raven quickly moved the five of them to a secluded corner of the bow of the boat, near a hanging rescue boat. “Bellamy, Finn, go to the armory and gather weapons. We’ll need them for the dead. Octavia, Aurora you’ll come with me to get some medical kits. There’s going to be some injured out there. Elyza, stay here and get the boat ready, you know how to do that right?”

Elyza nodded quickly, glancing around as the rest of the units began to separate and find a spare boat. Overhead lights lit the deck, exposing their position on the water. Elyza wasn’t focused on any of this though, she was more worried about getting back down to the barracks and finding her radio. She needed to get in touch with Harper.

But how could she do that? None of her friends would understand why she wanted to go back down to the barracks. She could talk to Raven, they hadn’t discussed it, but she knew that Raven knew at least a little bit about what was going on. If she could convince her, then the rest would _have_ to follow.

Elyza was so lost in her own thoughts, she hadn’t realized that everyone had left to do their part. She stood alone whilst other sailors shouted and hustled around her, getting their jobs done. _This is my chance,_ she realized. Glancing back at the dark boat behind her, she quickly moved away without thinking because if she didn’t, she’d overthink.

She walked with her back straight and eyes forward. She’d learned a long time ago while skipping class that if you looked like you knew where you were going, people would think that you did. Others only saw what they wanted to see and Elyza wanted these people to see her calm and collected going about her own business. She wasn’t sneaking away to find a radio that had been stole for her by people who were investigating possible infections on another ship. No, she was just hurrying to get someone a message.

Once Elyza was below deck, she hurried her pace. Nearly running around corners and down narrow corridors. She reached the barracks within minutes, breathing heavily and forcing herself to calm down before pushing through the door. She rushed to her bed, fell to her knees, yanking open her drawer and pulling out the radio.

She turned it on, carefully turned the knob and found the channel they had agreed to use and held down the PTT call button. Taking a deep breath and rolling back on her heels she asked, “Harper?”

She let go of the button and waited a moment but only static answered her call.

“Harper? Can you hear me?” She let go of the button again, listening intently. After a minute of pure static she was going to give up, clearly nobody was near the other radio. Elyza shook her head and sighed heavily, all of this uncertainty was really beginning to wear on her. She dropped the radio on the table and rubbed her fingers against her throbbing temples.

But luck seemed to be with her in that moment because a different kind of static pulled her out of her thoughts. It was interference, someone was trying to communicate but something was in the way. With a new flame of hope bubbling in her stomach, Elyza grabbed the radio and carefully, millimeter by millimeter, turned the knob, trying to find the right channel.

“Elyza?” Finally it was clear and she heard her own name spoken by an unfamiliar male voice.

“Oh thank god, who is this?”

“Jasper. Harper and Monty are…incapacitated at the moment. We were just about to call you…but things happened and now they’re both under arrest.” The voice was shaky.

Elyza couldn’t quite follow what he was saying, “What? I’ve had radio silence from you guys for days now, what’s happened?”

“Long story short, we found out that Dr. Pram is doing experiments on the dying and infected. She’s been keeping them in the storage units below deck. She was playing with fire and at any moment she could have exposed the disease to everyone on board. We think she did just that. People are getting sick and it won’t be long until we’re overrun. What do you say to that, Lex?”

Elyza’s breath hitched in her throat, _that damn doctor._ “Can you get Monty and Harper out?”

There was a pause then trademark sarcasm, “Is that all you got out of that story, Lex?”

With a growl of frustration and a punch at one of the metal bed legs, “Just answer the damn question, Jasper. Stop being a pain in the ass.”

“Probably, why?”

“I can convince Raven to come over there. We’re in emergency mode over here because the city is falling for real. I need you to be ready in thirty minutes. Get them out.” She spoke quickly, the plan coming together in small puzzle pieces that fit like a glove.

The radio went static for a few minutes, “I’ll meet you at the Jacob’s ladder in half an hour with Monty and Harper. You better be there, Lex.”

“I will be.”

“10-4, over and out.” The radio went static once again and Elyza listened for a second longer before flicking the channel off and standing up. She grabbed her bag and shoved her minimal amount of belongings into it. Her book, knife from underneath the pillow, and change of clothes. She threw the bag over her shoulder and stood up straight, shoving the spare knife into her pocket and clipping the radio to her belt. There was no use in hiding it anymore.

With everything together, she tightened the bag straps and turned, heading back above deck. Once she returned, she found Raven and Octavia standing by their designated rescue dingy boat. Both looked confused and were searching for something.

Octavia caught Elyza’s eye as she moved towards them and slapped Raven’s shoulder, nodding in the blonde’s direction. “Thought you abandoned us again, Aussie.” The bitterness in her tone didn’t go unnoticed.

“No, I just grabbed some things,” Elyza ducked her head, angling herself towards the boat. “Where’s Bellamy and Finn?”

“Right here, Aussie,” the smirk was evident in the voice as Finn approached. “Miss me?”

“No, I just want to get this going,” she didn’t even turn, only stepped into the boat hanging by ropes on a double pulley system.

“Alright,” Raven clapped her hands and took control of the conversation, “get in this dingy.” She chuckled lightly at her own joke. Her laugh didn’t really lighten the situation for Elyza, but she let it go and sat down.

The rest of the group settled into the boat, sending it swinging and creaking on its ropes. Elyza set down her bag, shoving it under one of the round floatation devices and wedging it in the corner so it wouldn’t fly loose. Raven had Bellamy stand on the opposite side and ordered everyone to distribute their weight evenly.

“Alright, on three we’re going to turn off the lock and slowly lower ourselves to the water,” Raven placed her hand by the locking mechanism up on the metal clasp holding the boat up. “We have to do it at the same time or else we’ll all go falling nearly a hundred feet into the ocean. Ready?”

Bellamy scoffed, his hands hesitating on the clasp, “I guess as ready as I’ll ever be. Hold on guys.”

Raven counted down and the rest of the group braced themselves on the lifeline ropes tied to the boat. Elyza shut her eyes, she had a very bad problem with heights and dropping a hundred feet into a deep ocean sent her heart pounding and adrenaline coursing through her veins.

When the ropes were loosened they jolted down several feet, jerking to a stop suddenly nearly ten feet below where they had been. “Sorry!” Bellamy cried out, voice clipped with pain. Elyza’s stomach rolled and she thought she was going to lose her dinner.

“Steady, Bellamy,” Raven shouted, her voice also strained. “Just slowly ease on the pressure alright? We’ll be down there before you know it.”

“Not too fast though, I’d rather not belly flop from 80 feet in the air, thanks,” Finn called, voice shaky and nearly a pitch higher than normal.

Elyza still didn’t open her eyes the entire way down. After the first jolt though, there was just a steady feeling of moving downward and the ever increasing sound of the waves. Once the bottom of the boat slapped against the water, the rope was ripped loose and Bellamy rolled it up.

The boat began moving with the short, choppy waves almost instantly and once Raven was finished with her rope, she went to the controls and twisted a key into the ignition. The boat purred to life and with another flick of some buttons a flood light brightened up a circle of ocean around them.

“Alright, friends. Aurora, I want you on look out. If you see anyone in the water, guide us to them and we’ll pull them in. This boat can only hold about twelve people so we need to make sure we save those we know we can save. Bellamy, Finn, you two will work on getting them into the boat and Octavia will warm them up. Elyza you’ll use the medkits and determine if there are any injuries. If you see _any_ bite marks we’ll have to deal with that properly. We can’t risk infecting the ship.” Raven called out, revving the engine and turning the boat.

Elyza knew this was her only chance, so she stumbled shakily to her feet—unable to get her sea legs yet. She held on to the lifeline until she was able to follow the rhythm of the waves before making her way over to the center console where Raven stood.

“Raven,” Elyza grabbed her arm which was wrapped around the throttle, “we need to go to the Freedom.” She said it low enough that nobody else could hear her over the roar of the engine, but Raven was close enough to understand her words.

With a frown and obvious confusion, the brunette turned to looked at Elyza, “Why the hell do we have to do that? We have people to rescue.”

Elyza shifted her body forward so she was pressed close to Raven, looking her in the eyes. She tried to get across what she wanted without alerting the others by shooting Raven a hard look.

Still, the brunette frowned in confusing, clearly she couldn’t read expressions very well.

“Harper.”

Her expression cleared and she nodded, “I don’t need to know any more. We’ll head over there now.” She raised her voice, “Guys. Change of plans. We’re going over to the Freedom. They’re having some problems that need to be addressed so we’re going to be addressing them.”

The others frowned in confusion, looking at each other to try to find an explanation for the sudden change in plans. Raven continued, “Elyza and I will go on board. The rest will stay here, it shouldn’t take too long.”

Finn shifted and called out, “You guys shouldn’t go alone. I’ll come with you.” He flashed his trademark smile, clearly he was just trying to seem confident and act like the girls couldn’t do this on their own.

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s safe enough for just two of you to go without some back up. Especially with the city falling right at our backs,” Bellamy piped up, his deep voice easily heard over the sound of the engine.

“Fine, Finn can come with us. Get a gun together and make sure you have an extra clip. I don’t want to risk our safety. Bellamy, you’ll be in charge down here, make sure nobody gets on board. I mean nobody. Is that clear?”

Bellamy nodded and shifted so his back was pressed against the edge of the boat. He pulled a handgun from his waist and checked the clip before reloading it and holding it grip out towards Finn. “Take this.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a second clip. “And this. Shoot straight too, don’t waste bullets.”

Finn nodded, taking the extended weapon and extra clip, shoving the gun into the waistband of his fatigues. The clip went into his calf pocket the Velcro tightly shut so it wouldn’t fall out.

Raven had already begun the trip to the USS Freedom, the boat heading deeper into the ocean and farther away from the dying city behind them. Elyza turned her head to watch the flames. They were too far away to hear the gunfire, but other units were already on the water heading in the direction of the danger. She didn’t know what would happen to them if anyone found out they were going against orders, but she did know they needed to get to Harper, Monty and Jasper.

It took less than ten minutes of boating at high speeds and only hearing the splash of ocean water and the roar of the engine to reach the USS Freedom. Raven shut off the flood light not long after they drew closer, attempting to cloak their approach with the night. She didn’t know why she did it, from what she knew there were no hostiles on board, but she still felt a twisting in her gut that told her _something_ was wrong.

She pulled back on the throttle, the engine slowing and purring. The bow of the boat dipped down again and they approached at a much slower pace, barely leaving a wake behind them. Raven pulled up to the Jacob’s ladder not much more than twenty minute after Elyza had spoken with Jasper.

The blonde yanked the radio from her waist after they had tied the boat to the ladder. She stood and turned it on, pressing down on the alert button for a couple of seconds before letting go, listening for a reply tone. When she didn’t get one after a couple of tense seconds she shut the radio back off.

“Here,” she muttered, shoving it at Octavia—the person nearest to her, “Turn it back on in five minutes. I’ll try to contact you from the other one on the Freedom.”

Octavia frowned, stood too and took the device, “Where did you get this?”

“That’s not important,” Raven called, flipping a switch and grabbing Bellamy’s arm. She turned him towards the dashboard and pointed out what some of the switches did before moving away. She patted the guy on the back and shifted the hat on her head before looking around at the Blakes. “Alright, you guys. Stay here and _do not_ let anyone on this damn ship that is not Lex, Collins or me.”

Bellamy nodded, “Of course. We’ll stay right here.” He leaned over and grabbed a semiautomatic rifle he had gotten from the Pearl Harbor, slinging the strap over his shoulder. “And we’ll protect ourselves, we’ll be fine, Reyes.”

Raven shook her head but couldn’t help the small smile that curved her lips, “Good.”

Elyza moved towards the ladder, resting her left hand against the cold, damp metal. “Come on, we need to get moving.”

“Wait, what exactly is going on? Why are we here?” Finn asked, his frown quite obvious as he tried to think through what he already knew.

Elyza turned to Raven, they were the only two who knew exactly what was going on, but they didn’t know if they should inform the rest of their unit. The blonde wasn’t even sure Raven knew the full extent of what was going on. But with the disaster on shore and the possibility of disaster on the Freedom, there was little reason to keep it from them now.

Raven nodded, seeming to understand where Elyza’s thoughts were heading without her voicing it. So, with a deep breath, Elyza told them. “Before Harper and I met up with you guys on the Pearl Harbor we ran into a couple infected on the Freedom. After getting on to the Pearl, we devised a plan to see if there were anymore. Harper left with two other sailors, Jasper and Monty to figure out what was going on. We kept in touch through that radio and now we’re here because the three of them figured out what was going on. The doctor on board has been experimenting on them, but she doesn’t seem to understand the risks of infecting the rest of the ship.

“There are only so many humans left alive and we need as many of them as we possibly can. So yeah, Harper and Monty got caught and now the doctor is holding them. Jasper went to get them so we’re going to take them back to the Pearl Harbor with us. We’ll have to inform the Commander of what’s been going on and deal with the consequences.”

It took a moment of processing for the rest of the group to realize what Elyza had said. To her surprise, Aurora was the one to speak up. She rested her hand on Octavia’s shoulder and stood. “How long have you known about this?”

“The whole time,” Elyza nodded, she felt guilt heat her face. She didn’t know Aurora well, she seemed passive and quiet, yet protective of her kids. But the woman had managed to survive this long so there must have been something hidden behind that meek exterior.

The glare she was shot by the older woman could have possibly killed her if looks could kill, “You put my family at risk?” She glanced at her daughter and then her son, “I told you we shouldn’t have trusted her again. She abandoned us once and now she’s lied to us about something that could possibly get us killed.”

The siblings looked everywhere but at their mother when she said this. The venom evident in her voice made Elyza flinch, “I don’t want to hurt you or your kids. I just want to protect you.” She gripped tighter onto the ladder, allowing the pain to focus her.

Finn stood too, “It doesn’t matter. What matters is keeping us safe. That’s all Aussie says she wants, that’s all she’s trying to do. We need to stick together.”

Nobody spoke for a minute, only glanced between each other. Bellamy tilted his head up, he hadn’t stood yet either but he didn’t seem all that concerned with doing so. “Finn is right. We have to stick together. But you need to _stop_ hiding stop and stop leaving us. We are your family now, we’ll protect you with our lives.”

Elyza’s jaw clenched, “Alright. I’ll do the same. I’m sorry for keeping this from you. But we have to get up there. This is all time sensitive.” She turned away and lifted herself on to the ladder, bracing her feet against one of the lower rungs.

She slowly moved herself up, not looking back down towards the smaller boat and hoping that Raven and Finn were following her. Elyza reached the top in record time. Her shoulders burned and her breath came out heavily. She peaked over the side of the ship, her fingers grasping tensely to the final rung of the ladder.

There wasn’t anyone on deck. Most lights were on and it seemed to the blonde that everyone was below deck, asleep. She pulled herself up higher before pushing off with her hands and feet, landing over the railing easily. She stretched her shoulders and glanced over to find Finn already clambering over the edge too.

Once Raven was aboard, they huddled closer together, scanning their surroundings carefully.

“I don’t like this,” Raven whispered, “They should have gotten a signal. They should be out there helping civilians.”

Elyza shook her head, frowning, “Jasper said he’d be up here with the others.”

“Who’s Jasper? Why isn’t anyone up here? This place feels like a ghost ship.” Finn asked, glancing behind him towards the door.

Elyza huffed, grabbing her knife out of her pocket. She hadn’t thought of grabbing a gun, believing that this would be a grab n’ go rather than a search and rescue. The blonde glanced to Raven, searching for some type of guidance.

Dark eyebrows rose under a Navy hat, “This isn’t my mission. I don’t know enough about any of it. You’ve got point, Aussie.”

“Bloody hell,” she growled and ran a hand through her hair, “Fine. We’re going to head down to where they kept me when I first got here. Keep your eyes peeled, I don’t know who—or what—could come at us.” The twisting feeling in her gut she had begun feeling whilst climbing the Jacob’s ladder pulled tighter as she thought through what they would have to do. None of this felt right, it felt off and very nerve wracking. The hairs on the back of Elyza’s neck stood on end and she shivered.

“Alright, lead the way, Aussie.” Finn nodded, his thumb flicking over the gun in his hands before he stood up straighter, brandishing the weapon dangerously.

Elyza pointed at him with her knife, “Aim that thing at me and I swear to God, I _will_ stab you.”

The floppy haired boy nodded seriously, understanding that the blonde probably would do what she said, “I don’t plan on shooting anyone. Especially not you or Raven. I’ve got this.”

“You better,” Raven muttered and punched him lightly on the shoulder. “Now let’s get moving.”

Elyza led the two of them towards the door, opening it carefully and stepping aside so Finn could enter first with his gun at the ready. His feet echoed too loudly on the metal grates of the landing inside and Elyza winced.

“Be quiet, Finn!” she whispered harshly.

He flashed her a frown before nodding and stepping aside to allow Raven to enter and scan their surroundings. When Elyza finally allowed the door to fall shut behind her, she realized how dark it was. There was a single emergency light glowing red over their heads and casting ominous looking shadows down further down the stairs.

Raven searched her pockets before coming up with a single flashlight, clicking it on. “Alright, lead the way.”

Elyza stepped forward, slowly moving her way down the stairs to scan and listen carefully. She barely dared to breathe and her heart beat hard in her chest. It was too silent, there wasn’t enough noise to indicate the existence of living human beings. She remembered the last time she had been there, it was less than a full week but there was already so much that had happened.

They reached the second landing and Finn and Raven scanned their surroundings once again with their weapons. Still nothing.

The trio finally made their way down the hallways Elyza was all too familiar with. There were several doors on either side that were darkened and Raven cupped her hands around her eyes, looking inside of each of them carefully before shaking her head. “Empty.”

Elyza finally stopped at a door halfway down, the window was dark and she stepped forward, looking in. It was hard to tell whether or not there was something there, but clearly the sheets were rumpled from someone sleeping there.

“I think someone might be in here,” she said after a moment.

“Really?” Raven double checked her before nodding in agreement. “Probably.” She yanked on the handle. Locked, of course. “Let me pick this.”

“You can pick locks?” Finn asked curiously.

Raven shrugged nonchalantly, pulling a Swiss Army knife from one of her various pockets. She flipped several attachments open before settling on a pair of scissors and some sort of long _something_ Elyza couldn’t recognize. It took less than five minutes to get the door unlocked and once she did, everyone held their breaths. They expected an alarm or something to go off but all remained eerily silent.

“Alright, I’ll go in alone,” Raven slipped the knife in to her pocket and drew her gun from its resting place on her hip. “When I say so, yank the door open, I’ll go in.” She turned to Elyza, who rushed to the door, grabbing the handle.

She nodded and held the flashlight out in her left hand, thumb over the button to turn it on when the moment arose. “Three, two, one…” she nodded once again and Elyza yanked the door open.

The silence that followed was nearly crushing and Elyza held her breath, glancing behind her and back down the hallway. Nothing, just a low lighting and shadows leading to the staircase. She turned back around, listening carefully. She didn’t dare to tilt her head around the corner of the door for fear of whoever was inside would cause some sort of problem and she’d get shot in the head.

Blue eyes met chocolate brown with concern after a couple of seconds of complete silence and it took Elyza a moment to realize what was wrong. “Finn!” She called, just before a body slammed into him.

A growl and a groan followed Finn’s fall before he was screaming and thrashing underneath the body. Before Elyza could even think, Raven was back in the hallway and the sound of gunshots sent her ears ringing. A short, blonde headed body slammed into the back of Raven’s body once she’d stopped shooting.

Things settled instantly and Elyza rushed forward, pushing the body of Finn’s attacker off of the squirming boy. He kicked himself away, aiming his gun at the limp body and his hands shook. The front of his uniform was coated in a dark red blood.

“Finn,” Elyza held her hand up, placing herself in the line of fire. Her body itched to get out of the line of fire, but she knew she needed to calm the boy down before he ban to over kill. “Finn, he’s dead. Are you hurt? Did it bite you?”

Raven put the gun back at her hip and held out her hand, taking the gun before helping Finn to his feet. “Let me check, please.” She quickly checked his arms and neck for any signs of a bite. Elyza held her breath again, waiting for the verdict with a heavy heart. If he was bit they would have to do what they did to Ellison.

“He’s clean,” Raven called a smile evident in her voice, “You’re clean.” She let out a breath and pulled him into a hug that smeared the fresh blood onto the front of her own uniform.

Elyza rubbed forehead in relief and stood up carefully. But the relief for short lived when she turned towards the body, turning it so she could see the face. Eyes were still opened on a face she didn’t quite recognize with blood running down his forehead and they were the bright, pale blue that she associated with the infected. _This is worse than I thought_ , she cupped her hand over her mouth before standing.

“This was an infected. The ship could be crawling with them.”

“Harper and the others could be dead,” Raven added.

Elyza shook her head, “We have to find them. There’s something seriously wrong going on here.” Finally her eyes fell to the new person still standing in the darkened doorway of the room.

It was a young boy, a couple of inches shorter than herself with messy blonde hair and blue eyes that weren’t unlike Elyza’s own. He stood with his back straight, even though he looked as though he had just seen a ghost and been woken up from a deep sleep. His eyes had heavy bags underneath them and a prominent cut made his lower lip look swollen. He couldn’t have been much older than fourteen.

“Who are you people?” he asked, his eyes not leaving Elyza’s.

“We’re here trying to save our friends. Who are you?” She asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Both of his eyebrows rose, “I’m Aden. These soldiers found my mother and me on land. She didn’t make it and here I am.” He spoke matter of fact, his voice never allowed any of the emotions he was feeling to be heard. Elyza noticed the tension in his shoulders and could tell he’d been through a lot since things started going downhill.

“Well, Aden. I’m Elyza and these are my friends Finn and Raven. We have reason to believe there are infected aboard this ship. More than just this one,” she gestured to the dead man on the ground, “we need to get you and our friends out of here and to safety.”

Those blue eyes bore into hers, searching for something but Elyza wasn’t sure what. He must have found it because he nodded, “Alright. Let me grab my things.” He turned back in to the room and disappeared into the darkness.

Elyza glanced at her two friends, exchanging worried glances. They didn’t know this guy, he might have been a kid, but could they trust anyone these days? The kid didn’t seem dangerous or even remotely violent, but still. The unknown made it hard for Elyza to make a decision. But he was also a kid, not much older than fourteen so her humanity and empathy pulled at her. He’d just lost his mother and it didn’t seem like there was going to be any respite for him.

Aden reappeared with a small drawstring backpack stuffed until it looked round like a basketball and a very gnarly looking machete in a leather sheath. He slid it in to the belt of his pants and nodded at Elyza.

The three friends tried not to pay too much attention to the dangerous weapon in the teenager’s hands.

“Are there any others down this hallway that you know of?” Elyza asked.

The boy shook his head. “No, they just found me early this morning and I was all alone.”

Raven nodded, “Alright, kid, let’s get going. Where do you think they could be?”

Elyza shrugged, “We should probably go deeper. Harper said something about the doctor doing some experiments.”

“Dr. Alie?” Aden asked, frowning.

Elyza nodded, “Yeah, stiff asshole?”

The boy grinned, “With the red lipstick?”

Elyza nodded once again and the boy laughed, “She’s hot.”

Raven smacked him upside the head, “And it sounds like she’s evil so hot and evil means don’t touch. Now let’s get going.”

She grabbed Finn’s arm and pulled him back towards the stairs. “Elyza, take this,” she said handing over the gun Finn had been wielding previously, “and kid, keep that machete ready, we don’t know what we’re going to run in to.”

Elyza took point again and they rushed back to the stairs. Since nobody had come investigating the gunshots, she assumed that most of them were dead, zombies or caught up in something the evil doctor was doing somewhere deeper in the ship. 

Her heart was pounding in her chest, clearly something was wrong on this stupid boat. She didn’t know why she was investing so much in people she didn’t even know. She could just leave, the found Aden and they could rescue him. But where would they go? If they went back to the Pearl Harbor they would have to explain themselves. If they went back to land there was a hell of a chance they would all die faster than they would at sea.

She led the group down the stairs and towards the showers she’d used last time. They turned a corner and Elyza stopped in her tracks, staring at the sight before her. Raven rammed in to her back and the blonde almost fell forward with the force of the smaller girl’s body. But cat like reflexes of a trained soldier caught her before she could fall on her face.

“Shit, shit, turn around.” Raven called yanking on Elyza’s frozen body.

A gunshot rang out as she was pulled back around the corner. She didn’t realize it in her sudden shock, but the gun had slipped from her hand and Finn had picked it up. He stood in the middle of the hallway, aiming and firing.

“Finn! Stop!” She yelled, “You’re only going to draw them closer to us.”

Raven let go of Elyza and yanked at Finn’s shoulder, “Come on! Run!”

“Elyza!” The voice was new, yet familiar. The blonde’s head whipped around towards the way they had come. Harper was limping as quickly as she could towards them with Monty leaning heavily against Jasper a couple of feet behind her. “Run, now!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, friends! Thoughts? Feelings? Suggestions? Let me know what you think. Things are starting to get action-y. Also, the finale for The 100 was last night and if you want to you can message me with your feelings on that. I know its pretty intense. I'm here for everyone. But here is the next chapter, look forward to Alicia soon! ~TGF


	12. Chapter Twelve: Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am soooooooooooooooo sorry that this is late. I hope the length makes up for it!

**_Chapter Twelve: Escape_ **

Elyza knew they couldn’t head the way they had been going. Finn had fired off too many rounds and they were already heading in the groups direction. “Head back to the stairs! We need to get on deck!”

            The blonde herded her friends in front of her, keeping the undead at her back and the living safely away from them as possible. There had to be about half a dozen of them heading in their direction. They looked human, just like the ones she had already killed but blood coated their collars and mouth. The milky paleness of their skin made extra visible by the copper red substance.

            A shiver ran down Elyza’s spine as she finally turned the corner, the view of the predators behind her now broken by the wall. She ran, nearly stepping on the back of Raven’s boots she was so close to her. Her nerves were shot, her back tingling as if anticipating that at any moment she would be grabbed and devoured by the cannibalistic infected.

            They did make it to the stairs though and once Raven was turning to pound of the steps, Elyza was nearly slammed in to by a battle ready naval officer with pale blue eyes and blonde dripping from a deep cut on his face. Someone had clearly tried to get to his head but the mask on his face had prevented the weapon from hitting his brain.

            Elyza screamed and turned sharply, nearly tripping and losing her balance when she stumbled up the first step. She took them two at a time, rushing to catch up to the group ahead of her. A hand grabbed at her foot before she could reach the first landing and she was pulled down on to the ground. Metal steps dug in to her ribs and hips as she scrambled to turn around and face her assailant.

            The same dead man lumbered after her. He stepped upward, cold eyes fixated on hers as he tried to maneuver himself stupidly up the next step. The rest of the undead were following him, but the staircase was too narrow for any of them to properly pass him up. They were also brain dead and tripping over each other to tumble right back down to the ground.

            The breath caught in Elyza’s throat and her chest started constricting painfully to where she couldn’t get enough breath in to her lungs. Before she could scramble much farther away the infect man’s foot got caught on the railing and he tumbled forward, landing right on top of her. If she’d had any breath to scream she would have, but she barely managed to grab a firm hold of his slick throat to keep his mouth away from her with her free hand.

            She tried, she really did, to stab him with the knife in her other hand. She didn’t freeze this time, not like the time at the convenient store with Bellamy and Finn. No, she stabbed him but didn’t think to consider the helmet he had protecting his head. She couldn’t reach around him and kill him, she would have to get under the clear mask covering his face and stab into his chin.

            Better said than done though. Her fingers were slipping as the man strained, nearly frenzied to get closer, dull teeth gnashing. Elyza had a split second thought of those teeth tearing in to her and didn’t want to think of the pain such blunt objects would cause before she finally died.

            She gripped tighter on to his neck, undried blood oozing between her fingers. But the man was starting to thrash, his body pinning her tightly to the ground. There was no way to escape and Elyza was beginning to give in. But suddenly there was a wet, squelching thunk and the man above her made a face.

            He tried to turn his head but suddenly it wasn’t attached to his neck anymore and Elyza was doused in thick, warm, wet liquid that smelled like salt and metal. The head still moved though and the body went limp above her.

            She threw the head, struggling to process what had exactly happened, but didn’t have enough time before she was being yanked to her feet. Aden had grabbed her and pulled her the rest of the way up the landing. A loud pop sent her ears ringing and before she could even recover from _that_ several more followed.

            Elyza glanced around, finding Raven twisted over the side of the railing and aiming her handgun at the small horde attempting to climb the steps in pursuit. “Are you okay?” Aden shouted. He had his machete stuffed back in to the sheath at his waist but Elyza knew that it was probably coated in blood. Then she realized _she_ was also coated in blood and her stomach rolled, threatening to regurgitate her dinner she’d had what felt like years ago.

            She could only manage a silent nod, unable to trust her voice in that moment. She still had a firm grip on her unused pocket knife. It was also slick with blood, even though she had been unable to stab the man, his blood had gotten all over her body.

            “Move your asses!” Raven shouted, “I’m out of bullets.”

            Aden grabbed Elyza’s arms and pulled her around the landing and up to wear Raven was. The two girls made eye contact and Raven scanned her body for any visible injuries. She must have looked like a mess because Raven frowned, shook her head and headed back up the stairs. The three of them rendezvoused with Finn, Harper, Monty and Jasper on the second floor and took a moment to catch their breaths.

            “Shit, Aussie! Are you okay?” Finn asked, rushing over to check her out. She was drenched from neck to stomach and smelled absolutely horrible.

            Elyza tried to recover her voice, her breathing was still wheezy but the tightness in her chest was beginning to recede. More air was getting in to her lungs, but she could still only manage a nod.

            Finn didn’t seem all that convinced and there was a psychotic looking glint in his brown eyes that did not sit well in Elyza’s stomach. Something was off with him, maybe he was just freaking out because of their situation. It wasn’t every day you had blood—or brain—thirsty monsters after you on a military boat in the middle of the ocean while a whole city burned to the ground.

            Harper was resting her head against the sleet metal wall to her left, her arms stretched over the back of her neck whilst she attempted to catch her breath. Elyza got a good look at her then, she looked raggedy. Cuts covered her chin and face, a deep black bruise ghosted over her cheek. She looked incredibly pale. _Jasper did say she had been captured._

            Monty wasn’t looking much better. He favored his left leg, limping slightly and his right arm was pressed tightly against his side. Elyza wasn’t sure if it was his arm or his stomach that was injured, there was no obvious signs of blood on his white t-shirt he was wearing which was a good sign.

            Jasper appeared to be the only one of the three who was lucky enough to get hurt. He was breathing heavily, but there were no obvious signs of trauma on his body. He stood close to his two friends, a concerned frown clouding his expression.

            “Alright, I’ll bite,” Raven finally said. She was crouched over, her hands on her knees and sweat glistening on her forehead in the lighting. “What the hell? How are there so many of them down there?”

            Harper was still recovering her breathing but she turned towards the darker girl anyway, “I’ve no idea…I’ve kind of been locked up and tied to a bed for the last couple of hours.”

            “Sounds kinky,” Raven replied dryly. Clearly she couldn’t help cracking stupid jokes, during moments of imminent danger. Nobody laughed at her joke though, but it was just how Raven was. “We need to get moving.” She straightened up and took a couple of steps towards the next floor.

            “Wait,” Jasper grabbed her arm, “from what I’ve seen, a lot of crew members have been going missing the last couple of days. Monty and Harper got caught last night trying to hack the rest of the way in to their system to get more information on Alie. This place isn’t safe anymore. Downstairs is where she was keeping the dead, up here was where she kept the still living…Well, slightly.”

            Raven shook his hand off of her. “We need to get back to the Blakes. We can’t just leave them out there. Someone might see them or an infected might get to them first.”

            “Yeah, it looks like the infected can’t climb stairs. The sooner we get to the deck the quicker we can be out of here.” Aden added his support.

            They were all forgetting something though, and Elyza was beginning to recover her breathing, “Wait a minute.” She managed to get out, before coughing painfully and straightening up. Her body felt like it had just been through a 5K she hadn’t prepared it for and she ached all over. “Is there no hope in taking back the Freedom?”

            Monty frowned, “You want to try to take it back? There’s only seven of us and over thirty of them.”

            “No, I’m not saying that…but I was thinking we might have to use our back up plan,” Elyza sighed. She’d been hoping he would say it was all good and they only needed to kill the doctor and some infected, but clearly this ship was a ghost town. Or, well, ship.

            Everyone else seemed to understand what the backup plan was except for Aden and Finn. The latter was the one to ask, “What’s the backup plan?”

            “It’s a bomb,” Raven replied bluntly, “I made it for Harper just in case something bad happened. I think this would qualify as bad.” She turned to Harper, who had shifted and was leaning heavily against the wall. Monty stood close, as if ready to catch her if she suddenly collapsed. “Do you have it with you?”

            Harper shook her head and settled her head back against the metal, looking up at the ceiling, “No, but I hid it in a closet where nobody could find it. I’ll show you.”

            The blonde moved to stand but winced in pain, her nose scrunching and her eyes closing tightly. She breathed heavily and slackened against the wall. The shift in position exposed her middle to Elyza and she noticed the red staining the white tank top she was dressed in.

            “Hold on,” Elyza stepped forward, “we need to check and make sure nobody’s bitten before we do anything else.”

            “Um,” Aden said and Elyza turned to him when he didn’t continue. He wasn’t looking in their direction though, he was staring down at the landing below them and the blonde turned to follow his gaze. One of the dead had managed to make it to the landing and was working harder than before to get to them, especially now that he was so much closer. Elyza shivered as her gaze fell to the severed head lying in the corner. Its face was towards her and she would still see its teeth gnawing at air. There was absolutely _nothing_ natural about this at all.

            “Maybe not here,” Jasper muttered, “Follow me.” He turned right, opening a door that led down a hall Elyza had never been through before. She really didn’t know much about the ship at all.

            Monty and Harper leaned against each other, holding the other up like they needed to be held. It was obvious to Finn, Raven and Elyza that they felt more comfortable with each other so they didn’t ask if they could help.

            Jasper held the door open, his bulging eyes seemed wider and more alert than normal. There was a glint in his eyes that revealed to Elyza he was tense and ready for anything to happen. Whatever had occurred on this boat was something that would scar him and the other two friends for the rest of their lives—whether that was ten minutes or ten years, nobody knew.

            Elyza passed through the door last, as usual. She felt more at ease in the back because she could see everyone in front of her and ensure they were safe. She would be the first one to get attacked if someone came from behind and she could be a pretty loud screamer. As long as she could warn them what was coming, she was more than happy to stick with the back. Even if her back did tingle and she expected a knife to slip between her ribs at any moment and she would be dead.

            But it didn’t happen and the three sailors guided their “rescuers” to a—luckily—abandoned common room. Jasper shut the door behind them and locked it, then leaned against it. He slouched forward and his eyes closed. Elyza caught sight of the heavy sigh he let out once they were relatively safe.

            “Shut off the camera, Jasper. They’re in the security room, they have access the all of the cameras. If they can get through the zombies out there, we’ll be screwed.” Harper said. Monty was lowering her gingerly to a leather couch in the middle of the room.

            Jasper followed her instructions without question, moving to the back corner of the room where a coffee machine was anchored to a small buffet table. He reached up and yanked the wire from the metal hole. It wasn’t as satisfying as if they had been yanked from drywall, but the physical exertion was helpful.

            “How the hell are we getting out of here?” Finn asked. He was pacing back and forth like a caged animal. His shoulders were tense and he couldn’t stop moving his hands, they ran through his hair more times than Elyza could keep track of. He was clearly beginning to lose it, especially when nobody responded to his question.

            Raven moved over to stop him, placing a hand on his bicep and halting his movements. He turned to her and she pulled him to the side. Elyza noticed a softness take over her features and the brunette’s hands ghosted over Finn’s face and through his hair. She turned away at that, clearly this was an intimate moment between the two of them. She really didn’t want to be involved in that. They might not have known each other for a very long time, but things like this brought people closer together in a much shorter amount of time.

            “Hey, let’s check each other out. Make sure there aren’t any bite marks.” Aden called out. The boy was very good at taking control of situations, the blonde noted.

            She moved towards the rest of the group. Monty had taken a seat next to Harper and was breathing heavily. His face had grown pale—almost as pale as his friend’s—and that worried Elyza, they were losing too much blood. “Yeah, let’s check you two out.”

            Elyza kneeled before Harper, cautiously. There were no obvious injuries, but the girl was in pain, “What happened to you?”

            Harper sat back a little, moving her shirt up to expose her midriff. A concentrated black and blue bruise was beginning to blossom around a bloody looking needle wound. “I was trying to put up a fight when the doctor came to take more of my blood. She thought that flushing an infected system with clean blood would somehow bring them back. I knew she was crazy, but I couldn’t resist. She stabbed me with the needle before I could disarm her. This is the result, I think she punctured something.”

            The wound was between two of her false ribs, Elyza noticed right off the bat, angled downward as if Harper had been lying on her back. “How long was the needle?”

            The ailing blonde shrugged, “I don’t know.”

            “I need an approximation. Are you breathing okay?”

            Harper shrugged and spread her fingers to show about an inch and a half of space in between them. “I’m breathing okay, it hurts though.”

            Elyza huffed, this girl really was _not_ being a good patient. She was acting too nonchalant about her injuries. “Lay down on the couch. I need to listen.”

            Once Harper followed instructions, Elyza pressed her ear to her chest. “Take a deep breath/” She listened intently for any signs of rattling or fluid in the lungs, which would happen if the girl had actually punctured it. Based off of the angle, area and depth of the wound there was a likely chance that it had happened and Elyza would rather be safe than sorry.

            She made a hang gesture urging Harper to continue to breathe deeply when she didn’t hear anything. The younger girl breathed in and out while Elyza listened. Nothing. No wheezing and nothing that sounded as though there was liquid within the lung. “I don’t think you punctured anything. You’re probably just really bruised and your body is trying to adjust to the force of the needle going in to your body. Nothing was injected in to you, correct?”

            Harper shook her head, “No. It was just supposed to be used to take my blood.”

            “Good.” Elyza looked over Harper further, making sure there were no bite marks even after she’d insisted she was fine. Well, besides the obvious wound.

            After ensuring Harper wasn’t dying any time soon, Elyza moved to Monty. He was looking worse than he had only minutes before. His hand was pressed against the saturated white t-shirt he wore, but his fingers weren’t stemming the blood flow from his wound.

            “Someone get me something to put pressure on this,” she said loud enough for everyone else to hear then lowered her voice, “What happened, Monty?” She delicately pulled the tense arm away from the wound. The shirt stuck to the boy’s skin but that didn’t faze her, she only lifted it up anyway.

            “One of the guards got me while I was trying to help Harper,” he nodded to the blonde next to him who smiled and squeezed his free arm in appreciation before settling her hand in his, intertwining their fingers.

            Elyza shook her head and tried to look in to the wound, but her view was barred by the copious amounts of blood still pouring from the wound. A hand towel was draped in front of her face and she grabbed it, quickly reapplying pressure. Monty grimaced and gasped, his free hand coming over to grab at Elyza’s on instinct.

            “We need to keep pressure on this,” she turned to Harper, “will you make sure he hasn’t gotten bitten?”

            She nodded, shifting closer and examining Monty quickly, “Clean.” She said.

            “Good.” She kept the pressure. “Now we need to find that damn bomb. Bellamy’s going to start worrying about us. Raven!” She called, turning to find Raven with Finn’s shirt lifted and her hands searching for any signs of a possible bite wound. She turned and dropped her hands when she heard Elyza’s voice.

            “Yeah?”

            “I need you to go with Jasper to find the bomb, wherever it is. Finn, Monty, Harper and I will stay here. Monty’s losing a lot of blood and we need to get both of them out of here as soon as possible. They need serious medical attention,” whilst spouting out these orders she did not stop the pressure she was putting on Monty’s wound.

            Raven glanced at Finn and the two exchanged a look that Elyza didn’t have the attention span or time to try to decipher. She turned back to Monty who had beads of sweat peppered on his upper lip and a scowl that seemed to be permanent on his face.

            Trying to distract him, she started talking, “What happened to your leg Monty?”

            “I stumbled,” he whined out between gritted teeth. His voice was strained and a vein stuck out in his neck as he struggled to think through the pain. “I stumbled while we were running from that horde downstairs, I think I twisted my ankle or my knee or something.”

            Elyza shook her head, their situation was looking grimmer by the second. She didn’t know what exactly was going on outside. There were infected, she knew and some doctor who didn’t think that the infected were really all that dangerous. She was doing experiments on them while kidnapping and possibly killing the living sailors on the ship. How many innocent people were left? How many dead were threatening them?

            She had no answers to the questions swirling around in her head and there wasn’t any knowing only guessing. They had two injured soldiers, one possibly fatal if the bleeding didn’t stop soon. Bellamy, Octavia and Aurora were still waiting for them and they didn’t know the dangers that were aboard the USS Freedom. She didn’t think that they were in any imminent danger but she still wanted to get back to them as soon as possible.

            Jasper and Raven left the room quickly and Elyza called Finn over. “Put pressure on his wound. Don’t let up even if he grimaces. He’s losing too much blood.” She needed to check out his ankle and find something to bind the wound for when they moved. He could lose too much blood if they moved him too much.

            After Finn had the proper amount of pressure, she moved away to the cabinets. There had to be something for her to use. She found a couple of hand towels that wouldn’t be big enough to wrap around Monty’s waist. She found a couple of wooden spoons that could be used to splint whatever it was that troubled Monty’s left leg if she could find something to tie it off with.

            “Here,” suddenly Aden was beside her as she crouched low, looking through a cabinet full of paper cups and napkins. Elyza glance up and found a blanket and bottle of water thrust in her face.

            A grin spread across her lips, “Where’d you find this stuff?” she stood and took the items from boy, adding them to her growing pile of loot.

            “There’s some cabinets over there,” he thrust his thumb behind him, “I thought you could use some help looking for supplies. Are you like a doctor or something?”

            Elyza’s face fell at the mention of doctors and she turned away, distracting herself with her supplies. She piled the loose items inside of the blanket, trying to clear the tightness she was feeling in her throat all of the sudden. “No, um, my mom was—is. I grew up around it, she always wanted me to be a doctor. But I’m more of an art freak. Logical thinking and scientific processes aren’t really my thing.”

            “Oh,” Aden seemed to sense her change in demeanor and flashed a soft smile, “Well you seem to be pretty good at it. We’re lucky to have you in a situation like this.” The sincerity of his tone and the genuine smile that spread across his lips made Elyza’s throat tighten even more. His hooded eyes crinkled adorably at the corners when he smiled and it made her happy to see.

            “Thanks,” she nodded and tore her eyes away from his to grab her bundle of supplies and head over to Monty. Aden followed silently behind her, his hand rested on the hilt of his machete.

            Monty himself didn’t look all that much different from the five minutes it took them to gather the supplied Elyza would need. Finn still sat there with his arms stiff and straight, his muscles bulging slightly with the strain of keeping a consistent amount of pressure for a long period of time. He was murmuring quiet reassurances to Monty, whose eyes were closed tightly and hand still clung to Harper’s.

            The injured blonde next to him looked like she was ready to fall asleep, but the concern for her friend was keeping her awake. The adrenaline had probably stopped coursing through her system long ago and she was beginning to feel the aches and pains from everything she had been going through.

            “Alright, watch out Finn, we need to remove this cloth and cut this blanket in to long strips we can tie around his waist. The smaller towels will be used as—” Before she could finish the door burst open and Raven ushered Jasper in to the room before slamming the door with a resound smack.

            Everyone’s heads turned to face the sudden commotion and the two breathed heavily. Raven had her Swiss Army knife out and her right hand was coated in coppery blood. Her other hand waved around a red plastic box with thick white vertical and horizontal lines making a cross in the middle triumphantly. Jasper was doubled over with some type of contraption clutched to his chest the size of a football.

            “I found you this, Aussie,” Raven hurried over and placed the first aid kit down next to Elyza, “Thought you could use it on these two windbags.”

            “Oh, thank God, Raven,” Elyza set aside her makeshift supplies to open the kit and go through the things she was provided with. There were several compression bandages, a rolled up ace bandage, portable Band-Aid package, a set of tweezers, scissors, antiseptic wipes, gauze, adhesive tape and a tube of Neosporin. There was even a bottle of _prescription_ pain medicine.

            “This is a bloody fucking Godsend,” the blonde muttered and grabbed an antiseptic wipe, ripping open the package with her teeth. “Alright, remove the pressure, I need to clean the area around the wound.”

            Elyza, Finn and Monty worked together to get the Asian prepared for transportation. They cleaned the wound and applied several compression bandages to the in wide wound. Elyza wasn’t sure how deep it was but this was the best they could do for now, they could only hope that there weren’t any visceral organs damaged. If there were, Monty was more than likely screwed. There was no way Elyza would be able to perform a surgery in this type of environment to remove any hemorrhaging if internal bleeding occurred. She particularly doubted that she could do it at all. Surgery was very different than biological dissection labs.

            Together, they wrapped the ace bandage around Monty’s middle and ensured it was tight enough. The bleeding had slowed and was beginning to coagulate in the wound, but with all of the moving the boy was about to do there was a likely chance he would be bleeding a lot more soon enough. Elyza gave him a single capsule of the pain medicine because she knew they would need him to be in his right mind when the moved.

            Elyza ended up discovering that Monty’s ankle was only mildly sprained and decided that he didn’t need to have anything done to it. She was only spit balling a guess from all of those times her mother had eyeballed her swollen ankle from when she’d fallen out of the trees. His bone wasn’t sticking out of his skin, there was only minor bruising and not a lot of it was concentrated so he’d probably only rolled it—she thought.

            While she and Finn were catering to her patient’s needs, Raven, Jasper, Aden and Harper discussed what they were going to need to do with the bomb Raven had made. The mechanic explained that she’d used a digital watch she’d been trying to scrap to make up the timer and they would only have five minutes after starting the detonator to get _off_ of the ship. Elyza was only half listening, but from what she caught of the conversation, this device had some serious fire power packed in to a teeny-tiny sized football bomb.

            They deducted that they would need to draw zombie attention to the bomb and then set the detonator. The best place to put it would be on the third level, where they had encountered over half of the dead crew members—according to Harper and Monty. The second level, near the hospital wing that Harper and Elyza had discovered Ellison and his friend was where Dr. Alie was keeping her patients.

            “We should see if we can rescue any more people before we blow the ship up.”

            “There aren’t many left,” Monty pointed out, “Only Alie, about six guards and I saw maybe four other living patients but they weren’t looking too hot. There were dead down there too, maybe half a dozen of them groaning and moaning while Alie tried to “help” them.” He shuddered and covered his face with his arm. They had washed the dried blood from it with the water bottle not too long ago.

            “We need to get this done fast, Bellamy and the others won’t wait forever. It’s already been over thirty minutes. He’s going to come on board soon enough to investigate if I know him,” Finn added. “The guy can’t just sit one thing out. Ever. He always has to be in control.”

            Since they’d been in the lounge room, Finn had calmed considerable. He was more rational and trying to think their situation through a lot more than he had been when they were running for their lives. But, Elyza was still worried that he would end up going off the deep end again and possibly having an anxiety attack again—or whatever it was that had happened to him.

            She tried not to think about it though, only focus on the situation at hand. There had to be something that could get them all out of their in one piece. “What’s on the first floor?” she ventured, turning to face Harper who seemed to know the most.

            The girl closed her eyes and thought about it, “Well, that’s where the barracks are so that’s probably where the rest of the crew is. From what I’ve seen today there aren’t any more living except for Alie’s people. So I’m going to have to say that level one is probably overrun with zombies.”

            _So much for that idea,_ Elyza thought bitterly but tried not to let that deter her. “Is there any way we can get pass them?”

            “By avoiding them? We’d have to be really quiet and hope they aren’t attracted to us.” Monty muttered sourly.

            “Your friends,” Aden said suddenly, moving his hands frantically, “is there any way we could possibly get in contact with them? Do they have more guns on your boat?” His blue eyes found Elyza’s and she suddenly realized everyone was looking at her to answer the question, even Raven who was supposed to be the one in charge.

            “Yeah, we do,” she nodded, not exactly understanding where this plan was going.

            Harper suddenly sat up with a start, her eyes widening and a grin spreading across her face, “We can give him the other radio! Jasper do you have it?” she held her hand out, opening and closing it greedily, waiting for the boy to hand it over.

            Jasper dug around in his pockets for the radio and finally came up with it. He quickly handed it to Harper and crossed his arms over his chest, “How are we going to get that up there?”

            “Sneaking works just as well as a full on fire fight,” Raven said. “If one of us sneaks up on deck, we can get to them and they can help us from up there.”

            “I can do it,” Aden stepped up eagerly. His shoulders were pushed back and his back was straight as if he was preparing for someone to disagree with him. His machete was sheathed neatly on his left side and he looked regal and in control for a kid in the middle of an apocalypse.

            Elyza looked at Raven, who seemed to be considering it. “You can’t be serious?” She exclaimed. “He’s like twelve!”

            “I’m fourteen,” Aden frowned, “and I’m capable of being silent. I’ll kill them if I have to, I’ve done it before.” He gave Elyza a pointed look and they both remembered the stairwell. Yes, he had and it seemed that he knew how to use the weapon at his waist too.

            “Do you know how to get to the deck?” Raven asked.

            He nodded, returning his attention to her, “I can remember, yes. Where are your friends?”

            “They’re tied to the Jacob’s ladder.”

            “The one that you climb up, right?”

            “Yes.” Raven nodded.

            “Alright, hold on,” Finn stepped in, “You can’t seriously be considering this! I agree with Aussie, this kid is too young.”

            “I live in this world just like you do, I need to learn how to survive too.” Aden stepped forward and suddenly both boys were close together. Aden was glaring, his shoulders held back while he looked up at Finn. Finn glared too, but it seemed that Aden was winning the battle of testosterone because it looked like he was the one staring Finn down. They looked ridiculous, a scrawny kid standing toe to toe against a much taller and much more filled out, fully grown man.

            “Okay, boys. Quit it,” Jasper chuckled and pushed his hand against both of their chests to get them to separate. “Aden is going. He’s the smallest of all of us.”

            “I agree,” Raven added, pulling on Aden’s arm so he stood next to her. “I saw him save Elyza. He’s got some balls.” She grinned down at him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.

            Elyza rolled her eyes, “Fine, give him the radio. Make sure he _knows_ how to get out of here and then we need to head to the medical wing. We need to save as many people as possible.”

            Once everything was said, Harper explained as well as she could how Aden could get out of there and to the Jacob’s ladder on the deck. Elyza and Raven discussed the best plan and how they could place the bomb while also getting everyone off of the ship. There were still people besides them who were in danger and Elyza didn’t want to her and her friends responsible for innocent deaths.

            They reasoned that they would all have to split up and Monty wouldn’t really be capable of helping with anything they had planned. Raven would go to the third level, where most of the infected were and Finn would draw the attention of the ones on the first level. He would guide them down to the third level and rendezvous with Raven so they could detonate the bomb and get back up the stairs.

            While Finn guided the zombies, Elyza and Jasper would try to break out the prisoners Alie and her guards had taken. They decided that was where Aden needed to bring Bellamy. They had more firepower on board their little rescue boat that could come in handy if there was resistance. Elyza was hoping they wouldn’t need the extra guns once they told everyone that the ship was going to blow up.

            “Here,” Raven said, turning to Harper and holding out the gun she had confiscated from Finn by its barrel. “Take this. Keep, Monty safe.”

            “You’re going to need that, though,” Harper frowned, not taking the offered weapon.

            Raven shook her head, “I’ll find a blunt weapon or use my knife so take the damn gun and don’t argue with me.”

            Harper rolled her eyes and huffed, grabbing the weapon and resting it across her lap, “Happy?” she asked, raising her eyebrows in a challenge.

            “Yes, here’s an extra clip,” she dug around in her back pocket and tossed the clip in to the girls lap. The two looked at each other, having a silent conversation that was only obtainable after knowing each other for a long time and being able to read body language. It ended with a careful look at Monty, who had his eyes close and was breathing a lot better than before.

            Elyza watched this while half listening to what Jasper was saying to Aden. All of this was taking way too long, everyone was trying to think about every possible scenario and then plan on how to get over it. They didn’t have _time_ for any of this and she was growing impatient.

            “Alright,” she stood up and ran a hand through her hair, “we need to get moving. We’ve used enough time up planning this, now we have to actually _do_ it. Harper, watch Monty, don’t leave until Finn and Raven come and get you. Aden, don’t you dare get hurt when you get to Bellamy, tell him we sent you. Take this,” she pulled out her spare pocket knife and gave it to him. “If he questions you, show it to him. It has my initials carved in to it.”

            Aden nodded and took the knife, looking it over and rubbing his thumb over the indentations of the letters. Elyza squeezed his shoulder, “Now go.”

            The boy left, sticking his head out of the door and looking both ways before finally letting the door fall shut. Elyza watched after him, worry eating away at her insides as he left. She didn’t know if she would see him again and that tore at her more than it should have for only knowing him a short while.

            “You think he’ll be okay?” Raven asked, stepping closer to the blonde. She had been lost in thought and didn’t realize the soldier had gotten closer.

            Elyza tried to wipe the frown of concern off of her face but knew she had probably failed miserably, “I think he’ll survive. That’s all any of us can do. We’ll know once Bellamy contacts us on the radio if he’s successful.”

            Raven nodded, “He will be. I think he’s got a good head on his shoulders. Not to mention that gnarly looking machete at his waist.”

            Elyza managed a small smile that she didn’t really feel at the attempt at a joke in such a bleak situation. “Thanks, Reyes.”

            “No problem, Aussie,” she winked before turning around.

            Elyza and Jasper left next. They would have a fifteen minute head start on Raven and Finn and once that fifteen minutes was up, they would have a maximum of fifteen more before they need to be off of the ship. This meant that they had twenty five minutes to gather up the rest of the living sailors on the USS Freedom and get them off of the ship and to safety.

            For the briefest moment, Elyza wondered how they were going to fit so many people in to one small rescue boat, but then pushed the thought aside. That was a problem for future Elyza and company to deal with, not right now. Now was the time to focus on the task at hand.

            The duo followed the directions Harper had given them and Jasper helped guide them a little bit better. He wasn’t as familiar with the vessel as Harper was, since she was stationed on the Freedom and he wasn’t. But he’d been getting by for the last few days, which meant he knew his way better than Elyza did.

            They followed twists and turns, heading deeper in to the maze of identical corridors until Elyza was pretty sure they were lost. They didn’t see any of the undead, which meant that Harper’s assumption that they were all probably near the barracks on the first level. Finally, before they turned another corner, Jasper stopped her. He pushed her back and peaked around the corner quickly before turning back to her. His face was alight with something Elyza thought was akin to glee.

            “Alright,” he clicked a button on his watch and it lit up green, “we have twenty two minutes to get everyone off of this boat.”

            “Plenty of time,” Elyza let out a breath she’d been holding. She was nervous, there was no telling what kind of reaction they would get once they revealed themselves. Did Alie already know they were there? Or was she completely oblivious? Were her guards warned about them? There was no telling and all of the uncertainty was worming its way in to Elyza’s gut.

            Jasper nodded, “It’ll be fine. There are three guards stationed at the door.” He pulled out his gun from the waistband of his jeans and turned off the safety, “Just stay behind me.”

            Before she could even consider replying he was around the corner and in the open. She quickly followed behind him, grasping for her knife and flicking its serrated blade open. It didn’t look half as dangerous as the Glock Jasper was holding, but it would be useful in hand to hand combat. Elyza was used to that type of combat, she’d grown up doing different types of Karate and with a dad who though everything about survival was fun and interesting.

            “Stop right there,” a low male voice called out warningly. It was gravelly and threatening and sent a shiver down Elyza’s spine. That was not a friendly voice. She couldn’t see around Jasper’s shoulder and felt her heart pick up speed as she stood carefully.

            Jasper held up his arms and gestured for Elyza to step out too and mimic his movement. “We’re here to tell you that this ship is about to blow up.”

            Elyza held her hands up to, her thumb resting on the knife in her hand even though her four other fingers weren’t wrapped around it. All three guards were male with the same defensive get-up on as the infected Aden had beheaded. The overhead lights glared off of their clear masks which made it difficult to see their facial expressions. The trio had their guns up and trained on the two of them. Two on Jasper and one on Elyza.

            _Figures,_ she thought, _he is the one with the gun._ She wanted to prove that she wasn’t one to be underestimated by sending the knife twirling in their direction. Maybe it would embed itself in one of their arms, or maybe a neck if she focused hard enough. But, for now, maybe it would be best if they thought she was some untrained girl with a knife. They didn’t need to know about her years of fencing or archery or karate or the amount of time she went hiking with her father. Or how obsessed he was with history and wanted to learn how the people of old had survived. They didn’t need to know that she actually was a badass.

            “What the hell are you talking about, kid?” the middle soldier called. He was methodically shifting his gun between the two strangers before him, keeping careful eye of their movements while the other two remained silent. Their fingers hovering over the triggers, ready to fire at a moment’s notice if either Elyza or Jasper made any sudden movements.

            Jasper shrugged, “Someone planted a bomb, and it’s going to blow a hole the size of a great white shark in the hull of this ship in about twenty minutes so I suggest you guys help us round up the rest of the people on board so we can get the hell out of here.”

 

            “How do we know you’re telling the truth?” the middle man asked again, he was clearly their leader. Elyza caught a glimpse of pale skin and a clean shaved jaw when he tilted his head back, but still, it was hard to tell anything about his facial features.

            Jasper released a strained chuckle, “If we weren’t telling the truth, why would we be trying to rescue you?”

            “If there was a bomb on this ship you’d try to save yourselves,” the man shot back.

            The man with his gun aimed at Elyza spoke up then, “Let’s just take them to Alie, she’ll know what to do with them.”

            “We’re not takin’ ‘em to Alie, Diaz,” the first guy said, “We can deal with ‘em ourselves.” The gun fired before Elyza really knew what was happening and suddenly Jasper was on top of her. He threw their bodies to the right, past the wall and back in to cover. They landed hard and the air left Elyza’s lungs as did the knife from her hand. She gasped, trying to recover the missing oxygen and scrambled for her knife.

            Jasper was pressed tightly against the wall, hands carefully around the gun. “Stay back,” he called just as he rolled away from the wall and aimed his gun, shooting off three rounds before rolling back. Just as his back slammed against the wall a spray of bullets peppered the far wall and Elyza nearly squeaked with the suddenness of it.

            She might have been well-trained, but she’d never experienced a firefight like this. There had never been a moment when she was seriously in danger. Her father had always been there and it was always a practice or lesson, never something that she could possibly _die_ because of. Even though there was always that risk that something could go wrong, the probability had been substantially smaller than this.

            The guns stopped firing and the same sailor called out, “Come on out guys, let’s talk about this!”

            “There’s nothing to talk about,” Jasper shouted back, “there’s a fucking bomb on this ship! There’s dozens of infected and you’re down here doing what? Picking your noses? Go get the rest of the crew and get the hell _out_ of here!”

            “We’re not going anywhere! We have orders!”

            Jasper and Elyza exchanged frowns, were they actually taking orders from Dr. Alie? From what Elyza knew they were supposed to be getting them from the Commander on the Pearl Harbor.

            “Who’s giving you orders?” she asked, her voice less harsh and quieter than Jasper’s had been.

            There was a moment without an answer. Elyza was sure she heard murmuring between the three men as they discussed what they should tell.

            “The Commander.”

            Neither of them were expecting that answer. Did that mean the Commander _wanted_ all of this experimentation done? Did he want all of this stuff to happen? If so, things were much worse than they originally thought. Which Elyza didn’t think was even possible until then.

            Before either of them could think of a reply a boot landed heavily around the corner. Elyza had the fleeting thought that there shouldn’t be anybody that close to them before a hand grabbed at her arm and twisted it up and between her shoulder blades. She cried out in pain when her shoulder protested at the odd angle and jerked, trying to get herself away from her captor.

            Jasper was yanked up next, the gun kicked from his hand before he was placed in the same position as her. His face twisted in pain and he kicked against a clothed shin. “Fuck!”

            Elyza tried to lash out with her pocket knife but only managed to get it knocked out of her hand by the butt of a gun to her wrist. The pain throbbed instantly and she yanked her hand back, holding it to the middle of her body. She tried to think of a way to get them out of this situation. All three men were larger and bulkier than her and Jasper, even though her partner was taller than two of them, he didn’t have the muscle to take them out if they resisted.

            “Let’s take them to Alie,” her captor suggested eagerly, “she’ll know what to do with them.”

            Before she could really process what she was doing she set her elbow slamming against the man’s helmet. It probably jarred her more than it hurt him, but it shocked him so much his hands loosened and she managed to rip herself away from him. She dove for the gun Jasper had been forced to abandon and tried to hold it steady in her hands.

            By the time the three of them had begun to react, she was already turning over on her back, bracing her shoulders and firing. She aimed carefully for the parts of the body she knew were the least protected by the protective gear the men wore. Neck. Shoulders. Legs. Any of those areas were her best bet.

            The first man dropped instantly after a bullet tore through the center of this throat. The second dropped to his hands and knees as two hit one after the other in to his knee then his thigh, but the final man still had Jasper pressed against his front.

            Elyza held the gun steady, aiming it straight at him. But no matter how much she trusted in her abilities, she didn’t want to risk injuring Jasper when she fired. So she hesitated, her eyes shifting between Jasper’s fearful brown and the partially hidden ones beneath the mask.

            The man used his free hand to scramble for a knife that was strapped to a back part of his material belt and pressed it against Jasper’s throat, “Drop the gun or I’ll kill him.” A thin stream of blood rolled down Jasper’s neck as the knife dug deeper.

            Jasper winced, grimacing in pain, “Shoot him.”

            She hesitated still, trying to find a spot she could aim for that wouldn’t put her friend’s life at risk. She couldn’t find one, but kept her finger hovering over the trigger if an opportunity arose.

            “Drop the gun, kid. I _will_ slit his throat. I have orders.” The man snarled, pulling on Jasper’s arm harder for emphasis. His shoulder looked like it was ready to pop out of place with just a little more pressure.

            “Orders to kill innocent people?”

            “We’re experimenting for a cure. Dr. Alie is on the verge of a break through, we know it. She told us.”

            “What if she’s lying?” Jasper gasped, clawing fruitlessly at the sailor’s ridged forearm around his neck.

            The sailor shook his head, “This is about the _world,_ kid, not about some stupid science experiment. This is to save everyone on the sacrifice of a few.”

            Elyza shook her head and made eye contact with Jasper. They needed to keep him talking to Jasper could find a way to give her an opening to shoot at. “That’s bullshit, there isn’t a cure. Alie hasn’t found anything. You’re being lied to. All of your crew members are dead on level one. This is a ghost ship.”

            That seemed to get him to shut up and his mind whirling. Jasper took his silence as distraction and sent his free elbow flying in to the man’s head, similarly to how Elyza had broken free. His heel smashed down on a heavy boot and he pushed his body back against the man.

            The sudden onslaught of blows surprised the sailor and he went stumbling backward, pulling the knife away from Jasper just enough for the boy to slip out of his grasp. Elyza took that moment to fire. Three rounds. One embedded itself in his bulletproof vest, the others in an arm and thigh respectively.

            He landed on his back with a thud, groaning in pain and shock at what had just happened. Jasper held a hand to his neck and it came away bloody.

            “Let me see,” Elyza stepped closer, forcing herself to tear her eyes away from the two writhing men on the floor. She tilted Jasper’s head towards the light, trying to get a good look at the cut. It wasn’t too deep, but was bleeding profusely. It was a good thing the knife hadn’t nicked his carotid artery. “You’ll live.”

            The taller boy nodded, taking her word for it, “We need to get out of here.” He glanced at his watch, “Less than fifteen minutes before the bomb goes off and this place goes under.”

            Elyza nodded and pulled the large automatic weapon off of the dead man, his skin was already turning milky and his forever open eyes a filmy, ice blue. She shivered and glanced at the other men, they were still in too much pain to really pay attention to their escaping prisoners. One of them—the one that was shot in the thigh first looked like he was loosing a lot of blood. She guessed that she had hit his femoral artery. _He’ll be dead soon enough too._

            She moved away from them and headed back around the corner. The door to the infirmary was tightly shut at the end of the hallway but once she reached it and twisted the handle, she discovered that it had been left unlocked. Jasper stood behind her, one of the other men’s rifle around his shoulder and aimed down and to the side, away from her.

            Before yanking the door open, she glanced at him to guarantee he was ready to move forward.  He nodded his affirmation before she stepped to the side and pulled at the door, forcing it to twist on its hinges quickly. Jasper stepped forward and over the slight lip in the doorway, toggling his gun from left to right as he scanned the room.

            Elyza hadn’t been inside of the infirmary before, but it looked like how she would imagine it. Rows of single beds drilled into the ground with their own personal monitoring systems along a long, rectangular room that reminded her of the barracks back over on the Pearl Harbor. Several people occupied beds near the front, their arms hooked up to some long tubes that were attached to another person on the bed next to them.

            Several people were moaning and groaning loudly, thrashing a little too. Everyone seemed to be restrained by their wrists and ankles. There weren’t any guards in here, which caused both intruders to relax substantially.

            “Untie those that aren’t infected…or don’t look infected. Avoid anyone with fevers.” Jasper whispered quickly. The amount of noise in this room was so underwhelming that they both felt the need to be as quiet as possible. Maybe it was being around the sick and dying that made them feel that way.

            Elyza nodded her understand before moving to the right side of the room. There were only about six people laying in beds, two of them were thrashing and moaning as if possessed or in an unbearable amount of pain.

            The first person she approached was lying still, eyes closed and face pale. She was an older woman with leathery skin and a permanent frown on her deeply lined face. Her forehead was covered in a thin sheen of sweat and her upper lip held evidence of perspiration. Her right forearm had an intravenous needle dug in to the skin and attached to an IV next to her monitor. A clip was attached to her pointer finger of the same hand, monitoring her oxygen and heart rate as she slept.

            She didn’t open her eyes when Elyza felt her forehead for any sign of a temperature. When the girl realized the older woman was burning up, she had to assume that they could do nothing for her and moved along.

            It was probably one of the worst things Elyza had experienced in her entire life. She knew that at least half of these people were sick and she didn’t even know what to do about it. There was no medicine to cure them and she couldn’t do anything to ease their discomfort. These people were dying and she would have to leave them behind to do so.

            The next bed she came across held a restrained man, thrashing and moaning, teeth bared. It wasn’t until she had gotten within three feet of him and he turned to face her that Elyza realized he was an infected. His left arm was tied down from wrist to elbow to keep the needle in his arm from being forced out form his movements. His eyes were blue and bloodshot but his skin was still smooth and pale enough to pass for human. He must’ve recently died, Elyza realized.

            She couldn’t see any signs of anything that could have dealt the kill blow so she had to assume he had been infected and died. The tube that was attached to his arm was hollow and rubber with a thick red liquid entering or exiting it, she wasn’t sure which. As her eyes followed the line to where it originated, she found that it was connected to a man laying uncomfortably still on the bed next to him.

            He was pale, almost as pale as the crisp sheets around him, but his chest rose and fell, indicating that he was still alive. He had military short brown hair and a young face, smoothed with a restful sleep. He was well built—from what she could see—and seemed to be completely at peace.

            This man was clearly not sick, but being used as a living blood bag. Elyza flew into action suddenly. She pulled the needle from his arm, placing the edge of the sheets over the small wound to keep it from bleeding everywhere. She shut off the monitor with her free hand and pulled off the finger monitor so it wouldn’t go off and warn anyone that someone was tampering with their patients.

            At the sudden movements the man in front of her woke up. His eyes were a hazy brown-green color that barely seemed capable of focusing on Elyza’s face. But she didn’t have time to slowly bring him into the land of the living, they needed to be up on deck in less than ten minutes or all of them would be going down with the USS Freedom.

            “Can you walk?” She asked, leaning over him so he could see her better.

            He nodded, “What—”

            “No time for that,” she interrupted. “Get up. We have to get out of here.” She stepped away from him before he could ask any more questions and moved to the next bed.

            This one held another sleeping person, so she quickly treated them to another of the sudden wake-up calls as the previous man. The woman woke up much more slowly, but seemed to in control of herself so Elyza sent her over to assist the man in the bunk next to hers.

            The bed next to the woman’s held another infected, a man who thrashed and growled, baring his teeth menacingly with insanity in his blue eyes. Elyza would have loved to have been able to put both of them out of their misery—she had come to assume there was no cure for them—but there was no time for any of that. They needed to take the surviving and go.

            The last two beds held one sick woman and a dead man. The man must not have been dead for long because he hadn’t quite been able to turn yet. He was pale and stiff—rigor mortis already beginning to seep in to his muscles and the warmth to escape from his skin. This one Elyza had the moment to mercy kill before he turned. Nobody deserved to live that way, not with the urge to eat human flesh so she did what she thought was best.

            She took his needle out of his arm and brought it around to the soft spot at the back of his neck. She found a spot on the back of his skull, near his spinal cord and stabbed upwards, towards the brain. The resistance wasn’t too much back there, she was almost certain she had gotten to some part of the brain stem and hoped it would be enough to keep him from waking up again.

            Without taking the needle out she stepped back and turned around to find that Jasper had already taken his time with killing the rest of the infected and herding the five survivors towards the exit. She followed quickly behind, taking up the rear.

            “—make sure to stay behind me,” she caught the last of his instructions. Clearly they had done what they’d come to do and it was time to get the hell _out._ Elyza couldn’t say she was upset to be leaving. Even if these people had saved her life, she wasn’t about to thank them for it. She fully believed that she could have continued to surviving on her own if they hadn’t interfered.

            Brown eyes caught blue and both of them nodded to each other, keeping their weak survivors between them as they slowly exited the room. Elyza held her gun up after closing the doors, scanning the hallways as they painstakingly moved.

            Jasper shot first, firing and killing the two guards who had turned while they had been busy saving people. The dropped to the ground quickly, blood bubbling from bullet wounds in their throats. Somehow Jasper must have gotten the bullet to curve because one of them had an indented cheek where the bullet had curled upward and into the brain.

            They continued down the hallway—Elyza dropping to grab her discarded knife from earlier—until they reached the central staircase. Jasper took them cautiously too, careful to make sure that nobody was waiting around corners to attack them.

            Elyza found it odd that Alie nor any more of her guards were there to prevent them from leaving, but she couldn’t complain. It made it a hell of a lot easier on them. They reached the first landing without any problems, but as soon as Elyza’s feet hit it gunfire resounded from above.

            Three quick pops of a gun followed by several shouts with one that drowned out the rest, floated from the hallway above. A deep, demanding and overpowering voice that belonged to the one and only Bellamy Blake. Clearly he—and most likely Octavia and Aurora—were fighting some sort of threat and Aden had been successful.

            The group of rescued sailors looked exhausted and a little scared. None of them were in any shape to withstand a fight, whether with the infected or living—Elyza wasn’t sure.

            “Jasper, you get up to the deck. Make sure they get down to the boat, I’ll stay back and help the others.” She called up to where Jasper stood, hesitating at the step to the next landing.

            He looked back down, searching before he met Elyza’s eyes. Maybe it was being in such a stressful situation, but she could read the look in his eyes: _are you sure you can take them?_

She responded with an earnest nod. Even if she wasn’t certain of the outcome, she would still have to go help if it meant getting these people before her to safety. Dying to defend the weak was something she could happily oblige to, her father had. It would only be right if she followed in his footsteps.

            Jasper stepped to the side, ushering everyone up on to the landing and then up towards the next, keeping them close so he could defend them better. Elyza followed them until they reached the first landing. She hadn’t spent much time there except to bypass it on her way to the deck. Gunfire echoed and the hallway grew bright with explosions as the gun power was ignited.

            Elyza ducked her head out of the entrance to get a view of what was going on. Bellamy stood in the middle of the corridor with a semiautomatic weapon in his hands. His sister stood to his right, a handgun in one hand and something that looked like a crowbar in the other. There was no sign of Aurora anywhere.

            Aden stood a little ahead and to the left of Bellamy, in a spot where several infected had surrounded him. The only thing that was keeping them at bay was the way he twirled and danced with his machete, swinging it in a deadly arch at necks and arms and really anything within range. But they were closing in fast, he wouldn’t be able to hold them off for much longer.

            “Aim, Bell! Don’t just shoot at them! Aim for their heads!” Octavia shouted, a hint of hysteria seeping in to her voice as the horde moved closer.

            “What the hell do you think I’m doing, O?” Her brother shouted back, undoubtedly frustrated that they were bickering at a time like this one.

            Trying to get a better view of the amount of infected they were up against, Elyza craned her neck and clicked the safety off of her weapon. There only seemed to be about a dozen or so left. Half of them looked like they had been mauled to death themselves while others looked like they had woken up craving brains for breakfast.

            From where Elyza stood, it looked like they had enough firepower to kill them off if they used it properly. It would cut out drawing them down to the third floor.

            “Octavia!” She shouted, moving closer and aiming her gun. She rested her eye against the scope, aiming and firing quickly.

            The brunette turned instantly, relief flooding her features for a split second before returning to focus on the situation at hand. She refocused her eyes on the nearest infected, aimed the gun carefully and fired. Slow and meticulous, just like she’d been taught. “Where the hell have you been, Lex?”

            “Busy, sorry. Do you have the radio?” she called, picking out a target and firing. The dead were within five feet of them. While Bellamy continued to fire rapidly, hitting his targets but not in the head, Aden was still stuck in the masses.

            Octavia stopped firing and diverted her attention to her pants where she scrambled for the radio that was stuck to her waist. Elyza covered her, firing as more and more dead frenzied towards them. When a radio was tossed in her face, she flinched away, nearly misfiring and hitting Octavia instead of a dead person.

            Elyza lowered her weapon and flicked the button on, “Anyone read?”

            She waited a moment, listening as her friends kept the approaching horde at bay. “Aussie?”

            “Oh thank God, Raven.” She took a deep breath, the relief nearly rehabilitating at hearing the familiar voice.

            “What’s going on up there? It sounds like a massacre!” came a crackling reply.

            Elyza risked shutting her eyes, “Bellamy and the others are up here. Don’t send Finn, get Harper and Monty and get your asses out of here. We’re going to take down the infected on level one.”

            “Are you sure?” even with the crappy quality, Elyza could hear the concern and doubt in the older girl’s voice. “I’m about to set the bomb. That means five minutes, Lex.”

            Elyza growled before pressing down on the transmission button, “Yes, I’m sure. We’ll take care of it and meet you up there.”

            There was a moment of static when Raven didn’t reply, “Okay, I set it. Good luck.”

            “Roger.” Elyza flicked off the button and stuck the radio into her belt. She settled her hand back around the trigger and readied herself to aim. Tensing her shoulders she fired, slowly but surely picking off the dead, one by one. They were easy targets to hit, all they did was move forward. They had no ulterior motives like living people did. They wanted a meal and they saw it right in front of them, nothing more and nothing less.

            Aden did not pick his way back towards them, but remained where he was, his back nearly against the wall as he bludgeoned and sliced with a fury Elyza wasn’t sure a fourteen year old should possess. After several minutes of gunfire there were more than two dozen bodies slouched on the ground. Dead.

            Elyza’s ears rang and her shoulders ached from the recoil of the gun and tension she felt in her back. Her breathing came heavily, she hadn’t realized at the time that she had been holding her breath with every shot she’d fired.

            “Aden?” She called, her voice sounding quiet out loud but loud and ragged in her own head.

            “Here!’ he beckoned her over with his bloody machete. All three of them ran in his direction, tripping over bodies and slipping in blood.

            When she approached him, he was kneeling over a particular body. Elyza couldn’t get a good look, but their legs are still moving. Bellamy and Octavia moved forward quickly, roughly pushing Aden out of the way. Aurora.

            She was laying on her back, breathing coming raggedly. Her arms and chest were bloody, which made it difficult to determine her injuries. But it was obvious she wasn’t going well.

            “We have less than five minutes. Get her up.” Elyza murmured, trying to sound as compassionate as she could with the thought that they could all be drowning within the next three minutes.

            Bellamy shot her a hard looking, making his normally melted chocolate eyes turn hard as unyielding as packed dirt. But he didn’t say anything, only scooped his mother up into his arms and standing with a grunt.

            “Hang in there, ma,” he whispered, but not quietly enough for the rest of them not to hear. Octavia stood as close to him as she dared, her fingers laced with her mother’s as they carefully picked their way back through the bodies.

            Octavia and Bellamy hurried towards the stairs ahead of Aden and Elyza, who hung back and scanned their surroundings for any signs of a threat. Elyza didn’t know it, but Aden was just glancing at her every couple of seconds, trying to mimic her tall stance and carefully observant gaze. It would have been laughable if they hadn’t been in such a precarious situation.

            The boy himself was covered in a heavy layer of infected blood and several pieces of flesh, guts or some type of innards. He didn’t seem to mind it much, even wore it with pride the way his back was held. Where the hell had this kid come from?

            They made it to the deck quickly enough and Elyza desperately wished for a watch in that moment. How much longer did they really have? Octavia ran over to the Jacob’s ladder and beckoned to the rest of them. Elyza and Aden stayed behind Bellamy as he struggled to hold his mother’s weight and run at the same time.

            The siblings helped maneuver their mother over the edge, where she grabbed on to the ladder and Octavia made sure to stay underneath her to keep her steady. Elyza glanced over the railing and down at the low sitting, crowded boat below them and then up at the still burning city behind them.

            A helicopter and several jets flew overhead, circling like gigantic vultures. They seemed to be waiting for something. Then she heard it—the rip of the sound barrier—something much bigger than fighter jets and water carrying planes were coming their way. Before her very eyes, she saw a black streak cross the night sky. Several object fell from it at hundred foot intervals.

            “Oh shit,” Elyza muttered, unable to comprehend exactly what was going on.

            The bombs hit land not seconds later and the sound was almost deafening. The ship itself rocked and there were several shouts from below.

            “Hey!” a shout came from deeper in the ship. Elyza turned quickly, but not fast enough. A gun fired and Aden was abruptly thrown backward, away from Elyza. He turned toward her, his eyes wide with shock and fear before it crumbled in to pain. He clutched at his back, faltering backwards.

            Elyza saw the gunman, but couldn’t do much about it. “Run, Aden!” she shouted, pushing his stumbling form towards cover. Another shot was fired and ricocheted off of a metal pole she had just barely passed.

            “Keep moving,” she murmured to Aden, who was whimpering softly but listened to what she said nonetheless.

            They bypassed the turret stationed near the bow of the ship, entering open territory between it and a storage unit.

            “Stop!”

            Elyza froze and turned, keeping Aden behind her when she did so. The soldier was edging closer and closer, trying to stay steady as the large waves rocked underneath them from the aftershocks of several bombs being dropped on a city.

            _Boom!_ Another explosive went off, but much closer than the ones on land. The ship rocked precariously, sending the gunman toppling over and the two kids nearly falling themselves. Elyza managed to keep them up by bracing her hand against the railing.

            Without thinking, Elyza scooped Aden up in to her arms and took off sprinting for the other side of the ship. It was leaning at a steep angle towards the port side, lending Elyza speed she didn’t know she could have. She jumped, her foot landing on the much lower railing before she careened forward and off of the edge of the ship into pitch black water.

            A gun went off and an explosion of stinging, burning pain laced through her shoulder and neck. The last thing she saw before the darkness and pain took over was a fiery orange skyline.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To elaborate on my above author’s note, I am really sorry this chapter was so late. I had a problem with a plotline I really wanted to include, but then had another idea that needed the end result of the other plotline not to happen (if that makes any sense). So I stressed about that for an extra day. After I got that figured out though, I kind of went a little overboard, so I’m hoping the length of this chapter makes up for the lateness of it. Also, I got a job (finally) and I start on June 15 so that means I’ll probably be posting less or possibly just not being accurate on when I say I’m going to post. Then again it is Friday (technically Saturday, my clock says 1:05 AM) so I am once again late.  
> But anyway, I hope you enjoyed. Leave a Comment/Kudos/Subscribe this story if you love it, or maybe only passively like it because eh what else do you have to do, right?  
> PS: For those of you who have been asking about Alicia, don’t worry. The day is coming. Hopefully sometime next week will be when she shows up. Chapter 13 seems to be her lucky chapter ;) So look forward to seeing her! Or well, reading her.


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Abigail

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alicia Clark is here!!!!!!!!!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, lovely friends! Alicia has arrived and I'm really excited for you to read about it. Tell me what you think! I can't wait to read your comments! ~TGF

**_Chapter Thirteen: Abigail_ **

            Alicia fiddled with the cord of the CB Radio, her eyes skimming the horizon from the deck of the _Abigail._ She was curled up on a seat, basking in the early morning sunlight while scanning any channels for signs of life. It was a despondent job to have and one her mother had clearly invented to keep her busy.

            The ocean normally held a beauty and reserved ferocity that calmed her, but today she was feeling a tightening in her gut she chalked up to her attempts at coping with the apocalypse. The serenity and normality of the emerging day would normally mean her family was going to have a relaxing day at the beach, but now it meant they were searching for a safe place to go.

            There was no telling how bad land was, they were too far off shore to tell and Strand wasn’t telling anyone where they were heading. San Francisco? It didn’t seem like a logical choice to her. But did she really have a choice in the matter? Of course not, she was only a child and her mother was going to continue to treat her like one until the day she was dead.

            “Lisha!” _Speak of the devil_.

            “Here, mom!” she shouted back, turning towards the walkway she knew her mother was going to be coming from.

            Blonde hair whipped around the corner and Madison Clark stood there, hands on her hips. Sometimes Alicia wondered why she had to look so much like her father. Her mother was so fair, they looked like they might not even be related, especially with her tanned skin and dark hair. Madison was already beginning to show signs of burning, even though she tried to stay inside as often as possible.

            “What are you doing out here? You’re going to burn,” Madison placed her hands on her hips, a picturesque version of an annoyed mother.

            _Burning is the least of our worries right now,_ “Nothing, I just feel too, I don’t know, cramped in there.”

            Madison shook her head, “Well, did you put on sunblock?”

            “Yes, mom,” the lie rolled off of her tongue almost as perfectly as her eyes did in their sockets.

            Without anything else to say, her mother turned away, heading back in the direction she’d come from. Madison couldn’t help but worry about her kids, the situation they were in wasn’t something any of them were dealing with well. But when it came to Alicia, her daughter didn’t like to talk very much. She was too independent to come to Madison if she needed to talk so Madison was forced to approach her.

            Madison sighed and made her way back inside, nearly running into Strand as she turned a corner. The taller man caught her by her arms before she went tumbling backwards too far.

            “My apologies, Madison, I was just looking for you,” Strand smiled and removed his hands, stepping back quickly. He shifted from foot to foot, hands flitting over his clothes and picking at nonexistent lint. Madison had learned very quickly that Strand wasn’t a man to sit still for very long, so she was used to his constant movement. But this was different, he clearly had something to say.

            “What’s going on, Strand?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and narrowing her eyes.

            Strand cleared his throat and glanced around, as if fearing being overheard. Daniel was leaning against the side of the boat, a fishing pole in his hand. He didn’t seem to be paying attention to what was going on around him, but that was what Daniel did. The man acted as though he wasn’t very attentive, just a simple fisherman in that moment, but he was almost certainly listening.

            “Come with me,” his eyes lingered on Daniel and his hand reached out to guide Madison up the stairs and into the captain’s control room. He pulled her straight over to the navigation and tracking console. He pointed at a dot, “there’s something heading our way.”

            Madison was surprised to hear that, they hadn’t had any interaction with people since they’d gotten on the boat. She didn’t know how far off shore they were, but they had to be pretty far since they couldn’t see land. Nick and Strand were the ones who focused on navigation, Madison didn’t really know much about it and was more interesting in making sure everyone around her was well taken care of.

            She stared at the screen for a little longer then gestured to the other dots, “What are those? Other ships too?”

            “We’re not sure,” Strand shrugged and stood up straighter, “could be multiple ships, or it could be some type of wreck. But they’re less than five mile away, we should be able to see them if they were ships.”

            “Could they be under water?”

            Strand shook his head, “I don’t think so.”

            “Mom! Travis!”

            While Madison had been talking to Strand, Alicia had picked up the binoculars laying by her feet to examine the surrounding ocean. Sometimes she would see dolphins or even whales if she was lucky, but she was secretly hoping to see another _person._ She loved her family, of course, but spending so much time with them on a boat—no matter how large said boat was—was a little frustrating and largely stifling.

            After a couple of minutes of scanning, she’d spotted a shimmering she wasn’t accustomed to associating with the ocean. Alicia followed the unknown object until it came into focus. It looked like a floating piece of dark sheet metal. She yanked the binoculars away from her eyes and blinked several times, trying to see the metal from the greater distance.

            When she didn’t see anything, she brought them back, searching for it again. She found it as it dipped and rose in the waves and caught a glimpse of something large slumped over it. Half of the sheet was tilted high into the air, ready to flip any moment from the weight on the other end.

            She called her parents’ names and tossed the radio to the side, standing up. Alicia hurried to the railing and a spark of hope took ahold of her stomach. More people, maybe? She hoped so, there was new information to be heard from people. Maybe they had a safe place…or maybe they needed one but it didn’t really matter.

            Travis and Strand came over and Alicia’s mom approached from behind her, placing a hand at the base of her daughter’s spine. She handed Travis the binoculars when he asked what was wrong and pointed him in the right direction. It took a couple of moments of guidance for him to see it.

            When he did he yanked the binoculars away and squinted, trying to see it in the same way as Alicia had in the first place. “I think there’s people on it.” He murmured so quietly, it was hard to hear. He sounded like he didn’t believe it himself.

            “What?” Strand exclaimed and stole the binoculars from Travis. He looked through them and without guidance, found the floating device out there. He glanced at Travis once, eyes wide, “We’re not rescuing them. This is my ship.”

            “Strand—”

            “No, this is my ship,” he repeated and tossed the device in his hand onto the seat Alicia had previously resided.

            Until that moment, Madison had remained silent, “What if those people out there know what those objects on the radar are?”

            “What objects?” Travis questioned and Alicia mimicked his look. This was the first time she’d heard about it herself.

            Strand clenched his jaw, a glint in his eyes that Alicia couldn’t place before it was whipped away with a straightening of his tie, “Something I saw on the radar. It’s not important. We can’t trust _anyone_ right now and we especially cannot afford to waste resources on strangers.”

            “We were strangers and you saved us,” Travis reasoned.

            “I saved you because I see potential in Nick. I didn’t have much of a choice. But I can’t go around saving every poor soul floating in the ocean or we’ll be the next ones to die.” Strand shot back before turning on his heels. Clearly this conversation was over for him, but Alicia was another story.

            “Mom,” she pleaded, turning to face her mother who watched Strand walk away with an uncertain frown. “We can’t just leave them out there.”

            Madison faced her daughter finally, noticing the determined clench of her jaw underneath the light, pleading tone she used. Alicia wasn’t going to take this lightly if Madison refused to help her.

            She patted Alicia’s arm as reassuringly as she could, “Let me go talk to him, sweetie.”

            Alicia nodded and turned to Travis, who had taken up the binoculars from the couch and was looking out at the ocean once again. He didn’t say anything to her, only rested his elbows against the shifting railing of the yacht and looking down at the water.

            “Hey, what’s going on?” Nick’s voice came from around the corner, “I heard Alicia shout.” He came into view and noticed Travis. His eyes fell to Alicia’s and an eyebrow rose up his forehead as he pointed. It was a silent, _what’s he doing?_ That was easily for the younger sibling to understand. They had a very fundamental understanding of each other, sometimes it almost seemed supernatural.

            “We found people,” a bubble of excitement was building in the middle of her chest. Through all of the despair and hopelessness she’d been feeling for the last couple of days, she’d allowed herself to feel something a little more positive.

            Nick’s body seemed to tense imperceptibly. Alicia only noticed because she knew him so well, “Are they dead?”

            “I don’t think so,” Alicia replied, “But Strand doesn’t want to check.”

            Nick shrugged, “Maybe that’s a good thing.”

            Alicia punched his shoulder hard, “We’re not the dead, Nick. This isn’t a war against each other, this is a war against the dead. We need to look out for every living human.” She paused, “Idiot.” She added as an afterthought to make it seem less serious.

            Her brother grinned and rubbed his shoulder, “Ow and okay, let’s go get them.”

            “What do you have in mind?” Travis asked.

            Nick’s plan was to steal the inflatable boat stored away in the hull of the ship. How they would manage to avoid Strand catching them hadn’t been discussed before the three of them had maneuvered their way around to the back of the boat. Alicia only hoped that they managed to get everything set up and they were too far away when Strand and Madison noticed.

            Travis and Nick worked the controls and maneuvered the much smaller boat into the water while Alicia grabbed whatever supplies they would need. She found a medical kit in one of the storage compartments along with a small Ruger .38 Special caliber revolver tucked underneath an oily towel. There was never being too safe, so she tucked it into her pants after checking for bullets. Only three already in the gun but it would have to do.

            She glanced behind her, but her co-conspirators were too busy with the boat to notice her hide the firearm. Strand’s words echoed in her head and she felt a little safer with the slight weight of the gun digging into her spine.

            “Alicia, let’s go. Now.” Travis called. His hand was clenched around the edge of the boat as it shifted in the small waves.

            She stood up straight and grabbed the medical kit before taking Travis’s extended hand. She set the kit down and settled herself onto the floor of the boat, resting her head back against the inflated sides. Nick stood at the engine, yanking smoothly at the pull cord to start it.

            The engine growled to life for a second before going dead and Nick cursed under his breath before renewing his efforts. After the third time, it started and he turned, settling himself down next to it so he could control it.

            Travis stood in the bow, bracing his legs at the converging point of the sides while he looked through the binoculars he’d kept with him. He shouted directions to Nick, who captained the ship away from _The Abigail._

            It only took them a few minutes of speeding away from the much larger yacht to coast and then stop next to the metal sheet. When Alicia finally got a good look, she noticed a boy and a girl. Both of them looked unconscious, with the girl laying over the boy, as if to protect him from whatever was after them.

            The girl’s face was hidden under twisted tendrils of blonde hair, but the boy’s lips looked blue and he was shaking involuntarily. Both of them were soaked through completely with the chilly ocean water.

            Travis leaned over and grabbed the girl by the back of the camouflage jacket, “Alicia, help.” He grunted with the weight of her once he shifted her.

            Alicia stood and moved with unsteady sea legs. She grabbed the unconscious girl’s hands and helped Travis heave her over the edge and into the boat. The blonde didn’t make a noise, but Alicia knelt down next to her, pushing her drenched hair out of her face.

            Blood was the first thing she noticed, it was stained into the collar of her white shirt and still oozing from somewhere under the mess of hair. Alicia couldn’t focus on her for long before the boy was pulled into the boat with a whimpering moan.

            He shifted next to her, rotating on to his back as she looked to face him. His eyes were open and bright with fever, his hand found her arm. It felt like ice against her skin, but it was strong and insistent, “Elyza.” The word were weak and rough, but still audible just before his head slumped back and his eyes fluttered closed. His hand went slack against her arm and fell flat against the floor.

            “Turn us around, Nick. We need to get these two warm quickly. And your mother is probably going to kill me,” he murmured the last part much more quietly, but Alicia still caught it because she was sitting so close to him.

            She grabbed the medical kit and popped the plastic locks open before lifting it open. Plastic bags of medical supplies sat in an organized fashion within. Nothing seemed out of place but Alicia really didn’t know where to start. She’d barely gotten through biology dissections without feeling sick to her stomach.

            Instead of going through what she had, she grabbed a handheld towel and turned to look at the girl—Elyza—first. She brushed the faded, dirty blonde tendrils away from her neck. Alicia explored the expanse of pale skin with her fingers until she came in contact with a slick substance.

            Pulling her hand away, she finally noticed the blood and tried to press the cloth to the bleeding spot. Elyza shifted a little, but Alicia wasn’t exactly sure if she’d done it voluntarily or the boat jumping over waves at such high speeds had moved her. Either way, she tangled her free hand in the girl’s hair to keep her head steady as she applied more pressure to the wound.

            She glanced over her shoulder while she maintained pressure to look at the boy sprawled out next to her. He looked okay. There was a cut on his lower lip and a faint bruise on his left cheekbone. His left arm was curled around his hip and sticky red blood stuck to his arm. Clearly he was injured too.

            But Alicia would have to worry about that later when she had another pair of hands to assist her. She had no clue where to start when it came to treating someone for injuries, but there wasn’t much to do when they were all being jolted and thrown every which way.

            Alicia glanced down at the blonde girl before her. Her face was slack with sleep and she looked completely at peace in such a chaotic situation. Just looking at her seemed to quell the raging butterflies in her stomach and the adrenaline coursing through her veins seemed to ease considerably. Her heart calmed as her eyes traced over beautiful pale features. A strong jaw, rounded chin and high, square cheekbones that defined a very strong angular face framed by blonde hair that would probably radiate gold if it wasn’t so wet.

            The steady feeling of the boat slowing was what drew Alicia’s attention back to her brother, who was calling her name. He was staring at her impatiently, waving his hand in her direction.

            She gave him an irritated once over, hoping she hadn’t been caught staring, “What?” she snapped.

            “Help Travis get the kid out.” He pointed to Travis who had said boy’s booted feet in his hands and was waiting for her.

            Alicia reluctantly untangled her fingers from blonde tresses and dropped the towel, but left it laying over Elyza’s neck. She noticed that they were settled against the deck of the Abigail again. Ofelia and Strand stood on the upper neck, staring down at the five people in the boat. Strand had his arms crossed over his chest with a disapproving look on his face, he looked on the verge of getting angry to Alicia. Ofelia appeared confused and a little off put by the unconscious members of the returning party.

            Madison and Chris stood on the lower deck, ready to help with the two deadweights and transfer them onto the large vessel. Daniel was nowhere to be seen, he was always like a silent, ghostly member of their sad excuse of a crew.

            She turned away and moved so she was standing over the boy’s head and grabbed him by his armpits. Together, she and Travis lifted the boy over the edge of the inflatable dingy before settling him as softly as possible on the wooden deck of the Abigail.

            “Did you check for bites, Alicia?” Madison asked, a hint of condescension in her tone that set Alicia’s pulse pounding wildly all of the sudden. Ever since the world had turned to shit her patience had run thin with just about everyone.

            “No, mom,” she tried to calm the furious shake of her voice as she looked over at the older woman, but only succeeded in making her voice sound like a growl, “I was too busy trying to actually help them.”     

            Her mom stared at her, jade eyes dared ice blue to question her one more time. Alicia wasn’t exactly sure what she would do if her mom continued treating her like such a child.

            Nick’s hand brushed against her arm and the staring contest between mother and daughter were broken, “Let’s get the girl.” His voice was low and soothing. Alicia nodded after a second, focusing on the situation at hand.

            She and Nick picked up Elyza and placed her below the boy, her head nearly touching the soles of his boots. Madison moved to her while Chris looked the boy over for bite marks. He didn’t seem at all comfortable with his job, but did it anyway.

            “I don’t see anything,” he said finally, “but he does have a cut on his hip. It’s still bleeding.”

            Travis kneeled next to him at those words, placing a hand on his son’s shoulder. He examined the injury Chris pointed at, “I think it needs stitches.”

            “Nobody here has that type of skill.”

            “My father probably does,” Ofelia called down, bitterness laced in her voice. She still held ill feelings towards her father’s lies. That was probably why he wasn’t on the deck, he knew when he wasn’t wanted and was probably trying to avoid his daughter.

            Alicia nodded, “Good, we need to get them inside. Now.”

            Strand took this moment to add his two cents, “I said they weren’t to come on my ship.”

            Frustration and impatience thundered through Alicia’s veins. The man was being stubborn for no reason. They all lived on the ship, they had all saved each other ten times over since the end of the world. There was no one leader anymore. They didn’t owe each other anything, they were family. But Strand had to make this all about his damn ship.

            “Strand,” Madison tried to pacify the man, “they’re just kids. They aren’t bitten and they need medical attention. Just let us take care of them for a little bit. We can drop them off somewhere once they’re healthy.”

            Alicia’s heart dropped in her chest at the last words. Where would they drop them? Would they really decided to go their separate ways if these two survivors had a safe place of their own? Would Alicia’s people decide that they could find a _better_ place? Knowing Strand, probably.

            “—on the boat, Alicia.”

            “Huh?” she glanced at her mother, who was looking at her expectantly.

            “Help me take the girl inside. She’s still bleeding.”

            Somehow, during Alicia’s musings the rest of the group had come to a conclusion she wasn’t sure of. Chris and Travis were already hauling the boy up the steep stairs to the upper deck carefully, making sure they wouldn’t slip. Strand and Ofelia had disappeared already and Nick was pulling the dingy back up onto the ship to put back into its alcove.

            Alicia nodded to her mother and grabbed Elyza’s shoulders. She was still out cold and weighed enough for Alicia and Madison to struggle with her as they grabbed arms and legs. It took several hot minutes to get the girl into an empty room with two twin beds pressed closely together.

            They passed Chris in the hallway, who gave her a narrow-eyed glare for no reason at all. When they entered the room, the boy was lying on one of the beds and Travis was pulling his shirt over his head. The boy’s skin was pasty white but held slight definition of muscles for such a young kid.

            Madison and Alicia put Elyza on the free bed.

            “We need to get them warm,” Travis said. “Take off her shirt and pants, then wrap her in a blanket.”

            Madison followed instructions, peeling off the girl’s army jacket, then her red stained tank top and finally her boots and pants. Once she was only in her bra and underwear, Alicia untucked the impeccably made bedsheets and wrapped them over the blonde. She stuffed either side under the unconscious girl’s hips, leaving her looking like an overstuffed burrito.

            Alicia glanced over at the boy, feeling a sense of protection and the need to make sure Travis was doing everything right.

            “She’s still bleeding,” Madison murmured from beside Elyza. She was leaning over her and brushing the blonde hair way from the girl’s neck. “I think she’s going to need stitches too.”

            With a deep breath, Alicia made her way over to the girl, leaning over to examine the wound. It was still bleeding, but not so badly that it would be worrying. But the cut was a long, even laceration that extended along the tendons of her neck, nearly grazing over her earlobe. It was uncharacteristically straight, normally when someone had such a long cut it wasn’t so perfect. “What could make it that straight?” she mused silently.

            “A bullet,” Nick’s voice came from the threshold of the room. When Alicia glanced up, he was leaning against the door, his head resting on the wall. His eyes were on her, but his next words were for Madison and Travis, “Mom, Travis, Strand wants you guys.”

            “What about—” Madison tried to protest.

            “Alicia’s got it,” he grinned at Alicia, his dark eyes challenging, “She can take care of herself. They’re unconscious.”

            “But what if they wake up?” Travis asked, “I don’t think it’s safe.”

            Nick rolled his eyes and made an impatient noise in the back of his throat, “If they attack her she’ll scream and we’ll know, right?”

            “Yeah, I’ll scream,” Alicia replied reluctantly. She would definitely not be screaming.

            “Good,” Nick pulled away from the door and grabbed something on the other side of the wall. “Here,” he brought it around and set a chair against the wall at the foot of Elyza’s bed.

            Alicia went over and sat down, glancing at her parents. The insistent pressure of the revolver in the back of her pants reminded her that she did have a weapon and could take care of herself if the need arose. But she had a sense that she wouldn’t be needing protection.

            Both Travis and Madison looked at the teenager dubiously, they didn’t think she’d be able to take this type of responsibility. Honestly, she’d been taking care of herself for years. Her mother had always been too worried about where Nick was or what Nick was doing or if Nick needed to go back into rehab to really worry about what her daughter was up to. She was the invisible child, always in the background and taking care of herself.

            “I’m fine, mom,” she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. To prove she was really at ease, Alicia plopped her sneaker covered shoes on Elyza’s bed.

            Both of the adults couldn’t seem capable of coming up with an argument and followed Nick out of the room. Her brother closed the door and left her alone with the two unconscious strangers. Their breathing was steady and it was only a matter of time before they woke up.

            Alicia pulled the gun from her waistband and placed it on the nearby bedside table before retaking her seat. _Now we wait._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Feelings? Hate it? Love it? How did I write the FearTWD characters? Good? Bad? Tell me! ~TGF


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Alicia Clark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alicia and Elyza interact consciously with each other.

**_Chapter Fourteen: Alicia Clark_ **

Elyza awoke groggily and slowly, as if her consciousness was forced to fight through the fogginess of oblivion. Her body felt heavy and her head was throbbing insistently. _Fuck, what did I drink last night?_

            For a few blissful moments she thought everything that had happened to her up until then had been a dream. What apocalypse? She was clearly laying in her own bed at her own university after a hard night of partying.

            But something was different, something felt _weird_. The bed was too springy and her neck ached in a way that wasn’t at all familiar to her. Then it came back, everything that had happened. The undead, the death and destruction that followed her after the airport. Tears came springing to her eyes at the horrifying nightmares that were now her life.

            Then she remembered the boat, the explosions and the man with the gun. Her mind ran through everything on the Freedom had led up to her jumping over the edge and falling into the freezing ocean below her with Aden tucked in her arms.

            Her heart thumped in her chest but she tried to remain still, her instincts told her _someone_ was in the room with her. The unfamiliar room that smelled like vanilla and something tart and a little spicy. Elyza allowed her senses to expand, trying to calm her erratic breathing as to not alert whoever was in the room.

            Elyza heard the shifting of pages and the insistent purr of an engine. _Still on a boat,_ she realized and her head pounded harder as she focused on the continuous motion underneath her. It would have been easy to forget she was moving, the area around her felt large, but in that moment she was too focused on it.

            Grime and crust making it difficult to peel her eyelids open when she decided it was safe enough to do so. Her head was angled to the side and the first thing her bleary eyes fell on was a gun. _A gun._ She felt a deep in the bed near her feet shift before disappearing completely as the person sitting there shifted.

            Someone was watching her or supposed to be. It took Elyza a couple of seconds to process what she was going to be doing. She thought it through, keeping her body calm against every nerve in her body that told her she needed to move and defend herself. She didn’t know these people, she didn’t know what their motives were or why the hell she wasn’t drifting in the middle of the ocean.

            Elyza closed her eyes again, imagining what she was going to do made it a lot easier for her body to do effortlessly. Pull your feet up, roll off the bed, and grab the gun, crouch and aim. The person was at the foot of her bed and not paying any attention, it would be easy enough.

            Allowing herself a deep breath that made her ribs ache as her chest expanded, she jumped into action. Her feet thudded onto the ground, her hand wrapped around the light weight of the gun and pulled back the hammer spur.

            Eyes searching the room quickly, they fell upon dark hair and a furrowed brow, beautiful pouty lips and smooth, tanned skin. _A girl,_ a part of her realized, _a pretty girl._ The shock of the unexpected realization in such problematic circumstances caused Elyza to hesitate. _Focus._

            After a moment, she raised the gun, aiming it directly at the girl’s chest. Eyes popped up at her sudden movement and Elyza’s heart fluttered in the most peculiar way. _Such pretty eyes._ The girl scrambled to her feet, dropping an open book onto the floor and holding her hands up in surrender.

            Her eyes were wide and shining, a vivid, bright green that reminded Elyza of those green apple Jolly Ranchers. She was young, probably younger than Elyza but definitely older than Aden. She could have been the same age as Octavia. The thought of the younger girl caused icy fingers to wrap around her heart and squeeze. _Where were the rest?_

Elyza cleared her throat, keeping her hand and speech steady as she asked, “Where am I?” her voice was rough and dry, nearly hoarse with lack of use.

            The brunette’s mouth opened and closed several times before she licked her lips, “On-on a yacht. I – we rescued you and…” she gestured to the bed on the left side of Elyza, “your brother? He said your name was Elyza.”

            The blonde risked taking her eyes off the brunette for a second to see that Aden was lying on the bed next to her, still unconscious. She allowed her second to survey him. When she found no signs of surface injuries she turned back to the girl.    

            “How many people are on this boat?”

            The girl glanced at the cracked door, “Eight?”

            “Is that a question or an answer?”

            Annoyance flashed in those green eyes and if a gun hadn’t been trained on her, Elyza was certain the girl would have rolled her eyes. But she didn’t, instead, she wiggled her fingers, “Will you put the gun down? I’m not going to hurt you.”

            “I’ll put it down when you answer my bloody questions,” she tried to make it sound like a threatening growl, but Elyza was pretty sure she just sounded ridiculous.

            When the corner of the strange girl’s mouth quirked upwards, her fear was confirmed. “You can keep the gun, I’ll answer your questions. But I don’t think this is how you have a conversation with the person who saved you.”

            “Last time someone saved me that knocked me out and carried me out here against my will. Sorry if I don’t trust you, love.” The endearment slipped out through the bitterness of the rest of her words, sounding much softer even to Elyza’s own ears.

            Another crook of those tantalizing lips and a raise of a challenging eyebrow made her lower the gun and click the hammer back into place. “Do you have any weapons?”

            That caused the brunette to laugh, “No, you have my gun. It probably wasn’t smart to put it right next to you.”

            “Probably not,” amusement crept into Elyza’s voice and her shoulders relaxed considerably. The girl’s laugh was melodious and the sound instantly eased some of the tension in the room.

            The brunette lowered her arms and moved slowly, her eyes resting on the gun still lazily resting in Elyza’s hand. She lowered herself into her chair at the end of the bed as gradually as possible, trying not to spook the woman with the gun.

            “Can we agree to be civil?” she asked, resting her elbows on her knees.

            Elyza nodded once before allowing her gaze to explore the room further. Two sleek, twin sized beds with impeccable gray sheets and furniture that was curved, glossy and modern. _Rich._ She licked her lips and looked back at the girl, she was dressed in a simple black t-shirt with some type of beach design Elyza couldn’t see. She had jeans and white sneakers on, but there was little sign of a hiding spot for weapons.

            She realized her own nudity when the girl’s eyes kept drifting down lower than her face. She stood in the middle of the room in just her underwear and bra, “Where the hell are my clothes?”

            “You were freezing and unconscious, we needed to get you out of your wet clothes,” the girl replied matter-of-factly. She nodded her head to the dresser next to her where a set of clothes were folded neatly. “I found those for you, I’m not sure if they’ll fit though. You have,” her eyes drifted down to Elyza’s chest before flitting back up nervously, “a larger chest than I do.”

            The way she cleared her throat and those green orbs drifted over her made Elyza’s entire body buzz. She’d never felt this conscious of her own body before. Every cell seemed to scream at the amount of attention she was receiving, it made her heart pound uncomfortably hard in her chest.

            “Like what you see?” she blurted, _great fucking time to flirt, Lex._ “I mean,” she continued before things could get too awkward if the stranger replied, “will you grab them for me?” she asked, wrenching her eyes away from the magnetic green ones to look over at Aden.

            The brunette stood, still maintaining a stubborn, ridged posture but still managed to move fluidly without making it seem like she was doing something that could cause Elyza to shoot her. She grabbed the clothes, a pair of gray pants with rips in the knees and a loose looking long-sleeved t-shirt.

            Elyza risked placing the gun beside her on the bed she had vacated to pull the snug pants on. Then further risked it by taking her eyes off of the brunette to pull the shirt over her head and yank it over her upper body. “Ah fuck,” she winced, her hand instantly going to her neck where the sting of a cut suddenly throbbed at her movements. She pulled the sleeves up to her elbows.

            “Yeah, you got shot. My mom thinks it needs stitches.”

            “Great,” she replied sarcastically, looking at the blood on her fingers. “Just bloody fucking great.”

            “Where are you from?” the brunette asked, curiosity winning over her reasoning to just play it cool and allow this to play out the way it was going to.

            Elyza shrugged and avoided the question by asking her own, “How’s he doing?”

            “He’s got a wound on his hip, I haven’t gotten a good look at it. But he’s been shivering, my dad thinks he might have gotten sick. He told me your name was Elyza, right?”

            The blonde clenched her jaw and wiped her bloodied hand on the sheets with a grimace, “I guess,” she grumbled, “are you the medical expert on this boat?’ she asked dubiously, giving the young girl a once over.

            A sharp chin jutted forward and up at the doubtful and accusatory tone, “No, I’m not. But we have to get by somehow.” There was a hard, defensive edge to her voice.

            Elyza turned away from her, “How long have we been here?” she tried to think back to those last moments on the ship. Had Raven and the others gotten away safely? Could they have been too close when the explosion had gone off? Were they dead?

            “A couple of hours, no idea how long you were in the water though.”

            Elyza began pacing, her mind was running too fast for her to stay still. She ran a hand through her hair and realized that it was grimy and full of salt. With a grimace she rubbed her hands together to get rid of the filmy feeling. Her throat was dry and her entire body was throbbing.

            “I’m going to get you something to drink,” the brunette said after a couple of seconds of silence, “don’t go anywhere, nobody knows you’re awake yet.”

            “Wait,” Elyza called out after the door pulled open, “what’s your name?”

            The brunette tensed and turned to face her, “Wow, you can be civil?

            Elyza rolled her eyes with a huff, realizing that she was probably being an asshole. But it didn’t really matter because surviving meant being an asshole, “Sorry, I didn’t realize civility was relevant after the apocalypse occurred.”

            The strange girl crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall, next to the open doorway. Her eyes caught Elyza’s before they rolled, “I was wrong, you can’t be civil.”

            A part of Elyza felt kind of sorry so instead of responding with another sharp comment she went for something a little more appropriate, “I’m sorry. My name is Elyza Lex. Thanks for saving my life. What’s your name?” She stepped forward and held her right hand out between the two of them.

            “Alicia Clark, and you’re welcome. Though, I am starting to regret it, right about now,” Alicia retorted, she didn’t hold out her hand. Instead, she turned away, slipped out of the room and closed the door behind her with a resounding click.

            Rather than dwell on the snarky Alicia Clark for longer than was absolutely necessary, Elyza stepped over to Aden who was still lying unconscious on the bed next to hers. He was wrapped in the comforter but his forehead was glistening with sweat even though his lower lip trembled with chills.

            Elyza unwrapped him from the sheets and jumped a little when she realized he was almost naked, besides a pair of boxers. She didn’t concentrate on it though, only trailed her eyes over his body in search of injuries. Her attention drifted to the oozing wound at his hip.

            It was long and thin, a graze of some sort that wasn’t coagulating properly. The comforter was slowly saturating with Aden’s blood as it dripped over his hipbone. If the bleeding kept up he could easily go into shock, depending the amount he had lost already.

            Elyza grabbed the comforter and dabbed the edge gently against the surroundings of the wound. Once the general area was clear of blood that was quickly being replaced, she noticed the intact skin around the injury was burned and that it _really_ needed to be cleaned out.

            Other than that one wound, there was no evidence of any life-threatening injury. Several bruises and surface lacerations covered Aden’s torso, but besides that, he was fine. His body began shivering suddenly and his lower lip trembled.

            Out of curiosity, Elyza placed her hand over his forehead. It was damp, sweaty and hot. Scalding hot. _Too_ hot for it to be remotely healthy. He was sick.

            The door clicked open causing Elyza to jump at the sudden, unexpected noise. She turned and found Alicia struggling with a pitcher of water, a plastic glass and a large red plastic box. Elyza hurried over when she nearly tipped the water over and grabbed for the pitcher.

            “Woah, careful there, klutz,” Elyza smirked and set the pitcher on the bedside table.

            Alicia just sent her a glare before handing her the glass and then setting the plastic box on the vacated bed, “I brought the first aid kit. Now that you’re awake we should probably clean your wound.”

            Elyza poured herself a glass of water and stared at the gun laying on the bed while bringing the cup to her mouth.  The amount of anxiety and nerves running through her veins was beginning to take its told. She wasn’t sure if she really cared of Alicia decided to grab the gun and aim it at her. She was too tired, too sore and just too _done._

She finished drinking the glass with a happy sigh and filled the cup up once again. This time, she didn’t drink from it, but moved over to stand next Alicia, “I can take care of that, I just need a mirror.”

            Alicia looked up from the box to stare at her in disbelief, “We don’t have a mirror in here and you’re not going out there,” she pointed towards the door, “until the rest of the crew decides that it’s safe enough.”

            “Oh, am I a threat?” Elyza raised an eyebrow and smirked at the huff of annoyance that escaped Alicia at her teasing tone. Instead of keeping her eyes trained on the beautiful girl next to her, Elyza grabbed an unopen bottle of alcohol and a package of gauze pads. She ripped it open and ignored the protesting noise that emanated from Alicia.

            “Did you wake up and immediately grab a gun and aim it at me?” Alicia asked rhetorically and snatched the items out of the blonde’s grasp. They stared at each other for a second longer than necessary and the air in the room became thick with tension. They stared and Elyza nearly got lost in the forest of green before her.

            Alicia broke eye contact first, pointedly looking at the bed. It was a silent command, _sit down._ Elyza grumbled under her breath about stubborn, pretty girls before slouch against the bed.

            The brunette opened the alcohol and poured it onto a pad, then stepped closer. She placed the bottle down and her empty hand came up to delicately brush the blonde hair at Elyza’s neck. “This might hurt,” she mumbled before pressing the wet pad hard against the wound.

            Elyza winced, but forced herself not to screw her eyes shut, “I know,” her voice came out strained and nearly broke with the last word. The stinging and burning was intense enough to bring tears to her eyes, but she forced them down. She wasn’t about to look weak in front of a stranger.

            “So how did you get this? My brother says it’s a gunshot wound.”

            “You have a brother?” Elyza evaded, bringing her hand up to rub at her nose to have something to do.

            Alicia let out a breath, making it clear that she knew what Elyza was doing, “Yes, and a mom. You have a brother too, it seems.”

            Elyza glanced at Aden, he was shivering again, even though he’d been wrapped up again. Her heart tugged in her chest painfully at the idea of him in pain. He wasn’t her brother, but there was still that feeling that she needed to protect him buried in her gut. Would it hurt of Alicia thought they were related? Maybe it would make them seem less threatening. They did look alike, blonde hair, pale skin and blue eyes.

            “Yeah, he’s the only one I have left.”

            Alicia’s hand moved to cup at the opposite side of Elyza’s head and she removed the pad. She dabbed at the wound a couple more times, removing any dirt or blood that was still stuck in the wound. Every movement hurt, but Elyza was determined not to look weak. She couldn’t afford to seem like she was in more pain.

            Her ribs ached with every breath and the only things she was capable of thinking about were Aden, sleep and where her friends were. There was a sharp headache developing behind her eyes from dehydration and her neck was throbbing.

            Soft, warm fingers seemed to move off of their own accord when they moved to tangle at the base of Elyza’s neck. Short fingernails scratched lightly at her scalp absentmindedly. Tendrils of electricity seemed to spark from those fingertips and relax every nerve in Elyza’s body. Her eyes fell closed and her attention shifted from the discomfort in her neck to the soothing motions in her hair.

            Moments later, Alicia’s voice jolted her out of her hazy state, “Better?” her tone was soft and nothing like it had been before.

            Elyza cleared her throat and sat up straighter, making her back ridged and forcing Alicia’s fingers to fall down to her shoulder. The brunette allowed it to happen with a twitch of her mouth, “I’m going to put a bandage on it, okay?”

            A curt nod was the only affirmation she needed before the warmth of her body left to lean over the first aid kit. Elyza watched, enthralled by the little movements of the brunette before her. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear that got into her eyes. She shifted from foot to foot. Her eyebrows wrinkled together as she focused and she worried at her lip subconsciously.

            Alicia’s head jerked up and their eyes met. Elyza turned away quickly, clearing her throat again and reaching for the glass of water she’d left on the bedside table. She sipped at it because she didn’t know what to say to the stranger before her.

            Soft hands once again tilted her head to the side so Alicia could see the cut better before skin-safe tape and another, clean gauze pad was placed firmly over the injury. “There, that should do it for now.”

            “Thanks,” Elyza jerked to her feet, brushing Alicia out of the way of the kit and went through it. She searched for what she needed. The alcohol, something to stop the bleeding and something to cover the injury with. After she had everything in her arms, she elbowed Alicia out of her way.

            The younger girl stepped back and watched her work with deft fingers. The way she ripped open the packaging and the deliberate movements thereafter indicated that Elyza knew what she was doing better than Alicia did. There was a composed urgency to the way Elyza moved, like she had been born to lead in stressful situations that other people would normally lose their heads in.

            Elyza carefully cleaned Aden’s wound, even though it continued to bleed. But she had found a tube of blood clotting accelerant she hadn’t even known existed until she saw it. She carefully doused her hand in alcohol before applying the cream over the wound. It covered her finger in blood but she really wasn’t worried about it. She wiped her hand off on the duvet and went to cover the wound in the same manner that Alicia had covered hers.

            Once that was finished, she turned to Alicia, who had been watching, “Do you guys have any medicine? Maybe a cloth I could use to get his temperature down? He’s sick.”

            Alicia nodded, “Yeah, but I have to warn you. The rest of this crew… my family too, they don’t really take well to strangers. Most of them didn’t even want to save you two. So just…forewarning.”

            The clipped way she spoke and the shifting of her eyes and feet made Elyza skeptical. She was normally very good at reading people, she prided herself on that ability. Alicia looked like she was hiding something, but the blonde really couldn’t tell what it was.

            “Alright…can I keep the gun, then?” She raised her eyebrow questioningly.

            Alicia scooped it up quickly from the bed where it had remained and shoved it into the waistband of her pants. A small, mysterious smile curled at her lips, “To be completely honest, I don’t think I’m supposed to have it. So no, you can’t. But we won’t hurt you. I promise.”

            The brunette slowly backed towards the door, her eyes on Elyza the whole time, “Stay here, I’ll be back.” She held up her finger, indicating that she should sit down once again. Elyza didn’t move though.

            “I’ll be here, Alicia,” it was the first time that name had ever slipped from her lips, but it felt good on her tongue. The way the three syllables flowed into a single word sent shivers down her back, but she masked it with a smile. “No worries.”

            Alicia only nodded before she was gone and Elyza was left alone with her “brother” on an unknown vessel in the middle of nowhere. Well, the middle of somewhere. The Pacific Ocean. But how far away from land? Were they anywhere near LA anymore? Where were they heading?

            Too many unanswered questions swirled in her mind, along with a set of green eyes she couldn’t quite understand. Instead of thinking about the bigger picture, she focused in on Aden. Elyza slid down to sit against the bedside table stuffed between the two twin beds. She moved her hand up and grabbed ahold of the limp, clammy one hanging off of the side of the bed.

            She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, there was nothing she could do now. She had absolutely no control over the situation. She was on someone else’s boat and wasn’t exactly sure what they were going to do with her.

            Would they kill them? From what Elyza could tell from Alicia, it didn’t seem like it. But people did crazy things to survive and the two of them were a risk that not many people would be willing to bet on. Humans were violent, flawed creatures that—when given the chance—will devolve into that same violent instinct when their survival and loved ones were act risk. So they might be rescued, only to be killed if it benefited someone else.

            _But we won’t hurt you. I promise._

For some mysterious reason, Elyza found herself trusting the strange Alicia Clark who had risked her life to save a stranger’s. If someone would do that, how bad could the rest really be?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts? Feelings? How did that first conscious interaction go? Let me know! ~TGF


	15. The Welcoming Committee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elyza is a badass and a smartass. Will she and Aden be allowed to stay aboard The Abigail?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long to update! Work is CRAZY. How do adults do it??? My feet hurt like hell! Anyway, I hope you enjoy. Kudos/Comment/Subscribe! ~TGF

**_Chapter Fifteen: The Welcoming Committee_ **

Alicia found Ofelia first. She was thankful it wasn’t her mom, Travis or Daniel. But the three of them had been locked up in the captain’s control room discussing the two kids they had rescued. Nick was up there with them, something Alicia wasn’t at all comfortable with.

            If he was allowed to be involved in the “adult” conversation, why couldn’t the rest of them? Ofelia just wasn’t interested, she was too busy holding a grudge against her father and nursing a slowly healing gunshot wound. But Alicia and Chris both deserved to have their opinions heard if they really wanted to.

            None of this could be kept from them. They couldn’t be forced to let the “adults” make decisions that could get them killed. The world had changed, kids were going to be growing up faster in a world that was kill or be killed. There was no reason for the “kids” to be left out of the conversation. It made her angry that they were trying to shelter and protect her, when what she needed was to be included.

            “Hey, what are you doing?” Alicia asked.

            Ofelia was on her way down the stairs from the main deck. She was walking slowly, with a weight to her step that transcended physical exhaustion and her face appeared to be permanently locked in a scowl. Her injured arm was clutched to her stomach to keep it immobile. She looked up when Alicia approached and let out a soul-wrenching breath, “Nothing, just wandering. What’s going on? Aren’t you supposed to be with those kids that you found?”

            “Yeah, but I need some help. The girl woke up—”

            “Alicia, you’re supposed to tell the others when that happened,” Ofelia frowned and grabbed at Alicia’s arm to guide her up the steps.

            The younger girl pulled away and crossed her arms over her chest, “I don’t want to tell them yet. You know how they’ll react and I…” she hesitated, not sure if she wanted to bring it up but knew she needed to, “I don’t want what happened to Andrew to happen to them.”

            Ofelia’s face seemed to go slack for a second before she composed herself. It was like all of her emotions were sucked into some secret part of herself and all that was left was a bored, poised expression, “What do you want from me?”

            Alicia sucked in a deep breath because she knew how much dredging up that memory hurt her friend. “I need some antibiotics and some washcloths. Do we have any left?”

            Ofelia shook her head, “I finished those off a couple of days ago. Why do you need antibiotics? Who’s watching them?”

            “The boy, he’s sick. Elyza said—”

            “Wait, what?” Ofelia stepped forward and shook her head, conviction creeping into her voice, “You’re listening to her? She’s awake? Alicia, you can’t go around trusting every person you meet. You don’t know her.” Her healthy arm clutched at Alicia’s as she shook the younger girl, attempting to force the information into her head.

            “Ofelia, please. Just let me do this, they aren’t bad people. This girl can’t be older than you. If you can’t trust her, trust me.” Alicia wriggled out of her grasp and stepped back, straightening her clothes.

            Ofelia just stared at her for several seconds, a concerned frown creasing her forehead. She looked doubtful and maybe a little surprised that Alicia was the one going around trusting every person they picked up in the ocean. “Fine, I trust you. What do you need?”

            Alicia had her help gather some food, wash clothes and chilled water from the fridge in the kitchen area. They were careful to make it seem inconspicuous and avoid anyone else on the boat. It was a good thing four of them were locked up in the captain’s quarters or else it would have been much harder. The yacht was only so big, of course.

            Instead, they made it back to the second suite room through the main passageway without a hitch in their plan. Alicia cracked the door open and stuck her head in. The sight that greeted her made warmth spread through her chest.

            Elyza was sitting on the ground, one leg up against her chest, the other stretched out in front of her. She leaned against the bedside table, her head tilted to rest her chin on her shoulder. What really made Alicia’s heart swell was that her hand was holding on tightly to her unconscious brother’s. Their fingers were interlocked and Elyza still squeezed tightly even though she was asleep.

            Ofelia elbowed her way in besides Alicia who scoffed and sent her a sideways look, “They’re just so dangerous.”

            The older woman rolled her eyes and rather than comment, moved further into the room to place the bowl she was carrying above Elyza’s head on the bedside table. She didn’t touch the blond, only stretched over her before beginning to pull back.

            It happened faster than Alicia could follow. She was still standing across the room so there was nothing she could do about it. One second the pretty blonde was sleeping peacefully, the next she was up and Ofelia was crying out in pain as she was thrown to the ground.

            Elyza had somehow managed to pin Ofelia to the ground with her face pressed tightly against the carpeted floor. Her good arm was twisted and her wrist held tightly between her own shoulder blades.

            Ofelia’s voice was nearly hoarse she screamed so loudly.

            “Elyza! Elyza, get off!” Alicia finally unfroze and jolted into action. She hopped onto the edge of the bed, grabbed at the fabric of Elyza’s shirt and pulled, using her other hand to grab onto her upper arm. The blonde felt like a boulder in her arms, completely immovable.         

            Elyza looked like she was locked in a trance, some type of memory, maybe. She didn’t move, but she was somewhere else.

            Ofelia continued to howl in pain, but she didn’t move any more. It must have hurt her shoulder too much. “Please get off of me!”

            “Elyza, please,” Alicia murmured, her heart was pounding in her chest and it felt like her ribcage was too tight to let her pull in a complete lungful of air. She tugged weakly at Elyza’s arm, “Please let go, she won’t hurt you.”

            Long moments later, she let go and scrambled off of the girl, knocking Alicia back on the unoccupied bed. Seconds after that, everyone and their cousin were in the hallway outside of the bedroom. Nick had gotten there first, rushed in and made a beeline straight for Alicia.

            Daniel was there after him, quietly coaxing Ofelia from the floor. Her cheeks were pale with tracks of tears evident on her face. She shook and collapsed into her father’s chest, their family drama momentarily forgotten.

            “’Licia, are you okay?” Nick pulled at Alicia’s wrist, bringing her to a sitting position.

            But Alicia wasn’t worried about herself. She was more focused on Elyza, who was being pulled to her feet by Travis. Her hands were secured behind her back with a zip-tie. She didn’t resist, only slouched a little. Her eyes were closed tightly as if she were fighting some internal demon that wouldn’t let her go.

            “Alicia?” her mom. It was her mom’s infuriating mom-tone of voice. She very rarely got that tone when she was spoken to. But recently, things had become different. Alicia had entered that rebellious teenage stage a little too late.

            That stupid tone drew her attention away from the blonde, “Mom, she didn’t do anything. She was sleeping.”

            “Why was she on the floor? Why’s she in your clothes?”

            “I—”

            “I’m sorry,” Elyza interrupted. “I was surprised. I didn’t mean to.” Her eyes were open, yet the sharp blue was hazy. She wasn’t _really_ there but she was trying to be. Something was going on in her head that was too hard to get away from.

            Alicia licked her dry lips, “She didn’t do anything. She was just defending herself. She thought someone was going to attack her.”

            None of the adults seemed to be listening to what she had to say. No, of course not, they were too focused on the “dangerous” stranger in the room. Daniel guided Ofelia out of the room, murmuring to her all the while.

            “Bring her up on deck,” Strand growled from the doorway, taking up the entire frame with his lanky body. “And restrain the boy, we don’t need him reacting the same way.”

            “He’s unconscious, Strand,” Travis protested, his hands still holding Elyza tightly, “He won’t—”

            “I don’t care. Better safe than sorry. This is my ship, remember?”

            Nick moved forward, pulling a zip tie from his back pocket. Alicia grabbed his arm, “Nick?”

            Her brother turned to her, shrugging his shoulders helplessly as she frowned at him. Clearly he wasn’t going to protest as hard as she was. He pulled free of her grip and did what Strand said, tying the boy’s hand to the bed post tight enough to make a strip of white skin.

            Travis lightly shoved Elyza forward and something hot and sharp jolted through Alicia’s chest and she stepped forward, “Where are you taking her?”

            Alicia glanced up at Travis, avoiding the confused look in Elyza’s eyes. She wasn’t exactly sure why she was being so difficult and protective of strangers who _could_ be capable of hurting them. But she didn’t want to dwell on it, she only wanted something normal again.

            “Upstairs. We need to have a discussion with her about where she came from.”

            The brunette opened her mouth to protest but Elyza caught her eyes at the last second, “Let them do it, please stop.” Blue eyes pleaded with her. She was tilted forward, slightly off balance from lack of ability to use her arms.

            Elyza stared at her hard for a second, jaw thrusted upward in a show of bravado and rebellion. She looked like she was in control, even with her hands tied behind her back. Alicia nodded once and stepped to the side, averting her eyes. She clenched her jaw and watched as Travis tried to gently guide Elyza out of the room.

            The blonde went willingly, her shoulders slumped. Madison, Strand and Nick moved to follow him and their prisoner.

            “Where do you think you’re going?” Chris’s voice came from behind Alicia as she stepped forward to follow after the procession.

            Alicia turned, eyebrows raised at the hard tone, “I’m going with them.”

            “Don’t you think you’ve done enough already?” Alicia dully noted the venom and judgment in his tone. She’d noticed that ever since Liza had died, Chris had grown more and more hotheaded and unpredictable. It wasn’t healthy and yet nobody was paying attention. He could go off the rail at any moment if someone didn’t reel his attitude back in.

            She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest, resting her weight heavily on one leg, “Why don’t you mind your own business?”

            When he didn’t respond and only stirred enough to storm past her and into the hallway, she thought it was a battle won. But she glanced back at the boy lying unconscious in the bed. He looked small, pale and very alone lying there. His face was slack and peaceful in sleep.

            She should go back upstairs and ensure that Elyza wasn’t getting tossed overboard. But what about this kid? He couldn’t have been older than thirteen and he might just wake up all alone in an unfamiliar place. Alicia fought with herself for several long moments before finally concluding that Elyza would be able to take care of herself. Travis wouldn’t let Strand or Daniel make any rash decisions. She hoped her mom would be concerned and her motherly instinct would kick in because Elyza wasn’t much older than Nick and the boy wasn’t that old himself.

            So Alicia dragged the seat she had vacated over to the side of the bed and pressed a damp cloth to the boy’s forehead. He shifted and mumbled something Alicia couldn’t make out, but she still brushed her fingers over his cheek softly to feel his temperature. His skin was clammy and hot, but there was nothing she could do about it.

            Instead, she stood and looked at his wounds. Alicia grabbed another cloth and dipped it into some of the water to wipe at the deep wound at the boy’s waist. She didn’t know what to do, but hesitating wasn’t something she could afford. The wound was still oozing but she didn’t know how to stop the bleeding. She needed help.

~   ~   ~

            Elyza was shoved down a hallway, up a set of narrow stairs and forced backwards into a metal chair. Her arms slammed against the edges, the light padding doing little and digging into her skin and causing her to hiss in pain. Lucky enough the chair didn’t fall backwards with the force of it. She blew at the hair shrouding her vision before flipping her head so it would fall backwards and she could see.

            They were in another room. Natural light filtered in through several windows, but her chair was angled so the rays hit her back rather than her face. She was opposite a sliding glass door that lead out to a narrow walkway, a table was set up to her left with several chairs around it, and matching the one she was sitting in. To her right, a set of stairs led upward and another back down to the rooms she had just been in. To her left was a large living space that led out to a lower deck, bathed in natural sunlight.

            “Alright, let’s get down to business. Travis, get Daniel. Nick, you can stay. Everyone else, leave.” The tall black man ordered. He stepped forward, never taking his eyes off of Elyza as he did. Their eyes met and Elyza felt a shiver run down her spine at the cold, guarded look he gave her. His brown eyes seemed almost alight with danger.

            She clenched her jaw and glanced at the others in the room. They begrudgingly moved to do the man’s bidding. One boy left heading towards the lower deck followed by a short, blonde woman. Then a tall, dark haired man that held a striking resemblance to the boy went the opposite way, passing the wave picture hanging from the wall and exiting the room through a door. _Must be father and son,_ Elyza noted.

            Another boy, one with knotted, slicked back hair moved to step up next to the black man. He crossed his arms over his chest, set his jaw and looked down at her with his eyes narrowed. “What are we going to do, Strand?”

            “We’re going to interrogate her,” he announced, not lowering his voice to make it difficult for Elyza to hear him.

            She licked her lips, trying to think. If they were going to kill her they would have. If they hadn’t wanted to rescue them, they would have left her and Aden at sea. They weren’t _bad_ people, they were just scared, she realized.

            Alicia seemed nice enough, even though she was the only one Elyza had had enough contact with to notice. But she wasn’t there to help, Elyza didn’t know _where_ she was. She took a deep breath and swallowed to try to clear her throat.

            “You don’t need to interrogate me, I’ll tell you anything you want to know,” she shifted to sit back, slouching slightly as she looked upward at the men before her. They stood side by side, far enough away that she wasn’t able to reach them without jumping from her seat. Either way, she stretched her legs out as far as they could go. The best way to earn their trust was to be as honest has possible.

            The boy—Nick, seemed to purse his lips. “What’s your name?”

            “Elyza Lex.”

            Strand narrowed his eyes further, “That’s a peculiar name, sounds almost fake.”

            Elyza had to resist rolling her eyes. “If I’m going to be honest, you can’t just not believe me. My mom liked the name Elyza and my dad’s last name was Lex. Whoop-dee do, asshole.”

            “Where are you from?” Nick asked before Strand could bite back a comment.

            “Australia. Aden and I were visiting family friends in Santa Monica when everything went to shit. We were at LAX getting ready to leave actually,” she huffed out a heavy breath, thinking about Bellamy and Octavia. She had to force herself to include Aden in her statement. She wondered if her friends were alive, not for the first time since she woke up. “Was there anyone else out there? Besides Aden and me?”

            Strand let out a strained, humorless laugh, “We’re asking the questions, Lex.” Her name fell off of his tongue like a curse but Elyza kept her jaw clenched tightly. She couldn’t really risk them getting angry and throwing her overboard. “Why were you out there? Where did you come from?”

            She couldn’t resist this though, “Well you see when a man and a woman lov—”

            “That’s not what I _meant_ ,” The barely contained rage and frustration shook Strand’s gravelly voice. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself. His fists were clenched tightly as if prepared to lash out at any moment.

            Strand’s next words were interrupted by a man descending the stairs from the upper deck. The tall, dark man with the big nose reentered followed by a short, older man with a hard edge to him that made a chill shiver down Elyza’s spine. When their eyes met, hazel seemed to bore straight through Elyza like a hot knife. He seemed to see all of her deepest secrets with that one, dead look.

            He walked slowly but methodically, like a shark circling its prey before settling down on the alcove couch just barely within Elyza’s peripheral. He crossed one leg over the other and rested back, looking way too relaxed for the blank expression on his face. Elyza angled her body so she could see him better, uncomfortable with him behind her.

            “Daniel, thanks for joining us,” Strand turned and nodded at him.

            “What are we going to do with her, Strand?” Daniel asked, lifting his chin defiantly as he addressed the larger man.

            Strand returned his gaze to Elyza’s, a smirk playing at the corners of his mouth, “I was hoping you’d help me get her to talk.”

            “What?” Travis stepped forward, his eyebrows nearly lost in his hairline, “We’re not doing that. Remember what happened with Andrew?”

            “Yeah, Strand,” Nick agreed in a hushed tone. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, she’s been answering our questions.”

            “Yeah,” Elyza called, gaining the four men’s attentions, “I’m answering your questions. Honestly. My brother is sick and shot. He needs medical attention.”

            “We don’t have anyone with medical training on board, unless you count Daniel,” the peculiar note in his voice made Elyza curious on what _type_ of medical training Daniel had. She really didn’t want to find out.

            With a deep breath she replied, “I have medical training. I’ve been going through school. My mom is—was, I don’t know—a doctor. Just let me fix him.” She paused, searching all four faces for any sign of giving before settling on the most vulnerable, Travis. “I can _help_ him, I can help you guys. If you don’t have a trained professional, what do you have? How have you survived without it?”

            “We did have it,” Travis responded, licking his lips and averting his eyes. They seemed to redden around the edges and a frown creased his forehead before he swallowed and cleared his throat, but it still came out rough, “She died.”

            The mood throughout the cabin grew thick with grief and regret. Every face seemed to turn downward at the mention. Elyza realized that she’d hit a soft spot, someone they’d cared about was dead, “I’m sorry.” She allowed a moment for the sincerity of her words to settle in, “But you need someone who understands medicine. I understand medicine.”

            “How well?” Nick asked.

            Elyza’s first instinct was to snap back, _Better than you._ But she restrained, it wouldn’t do to provoke or insult one of these men, no matter how much she enjoyed it. Her mouth had never done anything good when it came to authority figures so keeping it n check was imperative. “A year in medical school? A Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Biology? Take your pick, mate.”

            Nick glanced at Strand, who pressed his lips tightly together in thought, “Fine. But you need to tell us everything that’s happened to you and that boy.”

            “My brother, Aden.” Elyza provided.

            “Fine, your brother Aden. Then we’ll see about letting you join our crew.”

            “You think that’s smart, Strand?” Daniel piped up. He didn’t look particularly interested in the conversation, but Elyza wasn’t getting a very good read of him. He had a Spanish lithe to his voice, clearly foreign and he was good at maintaining control of himself. There was something else though, something that screamed cold and danger. Something that made Elyza want to stay as far away from the man as possible.

            Elyza nodded and swallowed again, tearing her eyes away from the man and settling them back on Strand who still hadn’t replied. “I think it’s a good idea. Aden and I won’t hurt you. I was half asleep and dreaming,” she licked her lips, remembering what she’d been dreaming about, “and I didn’t know who she was. I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t mean to hurt her, I can apologize to her and look at her shoulder if you want me to.” She knew she was rambling, but couldn’t help it.

            “You attacked my daughter, I would kill you if I was in charge,” Daniel leaned forward a semblance of anger creeping into his voice.

            “I’m sorry, I really am. It won’t happen again,” she glanced between him and Strand, sitting up straighter. There was nothing she could do to protect herself with her arms _literally_ tied behind her back. The only options she had if this went the wrong way was the use of her legs and maybe the chair if she could get her hands to cooperate.

            Nick nudged Strand and they exchanged a look.

            Travis took a step forward, inserting himself into the conversation, “I think she’s being truthful, just let her explain and then we can make a better decision.”

            “Fine,” Strand finally decided, “we’ll let her _explain_ herself. Then _I’ll_ make a decision.”

            Elyza nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with the decision, “Great, great. First, can I get something to eat? Maybe to drink?”

            All four of them seemed to stare at her blankly, and for a moment, Elyza thought they were utter morons. She wondered why there were no _women_ in charged because the world would have gone in a much different way if they had. Men were stupid.

            “I’ve been shipwrecked and I don’t know how long it’s been,” she reiterated, looking expectantly.

            “Right,” Travis nodded and turned around, heading towards a closed door at the end of the room, “I’ll get Madison to get you something.”

            Strand and Daniel left after him while Nick took up residence on the couch Daniel had vacated. He rested his grubby shoes on a chair he pulled out with his feet and slouched against the seat with a dramatic sigh. One of his arms crossed over his eyes and his neck craned over the back of the cushion, bathed in the bright golden glow of the sun.

            “How far off shore are we?” Elyza inquired.

            Nick didn’t move, he didn’t seem like he was going to respond, either. Elyza actually wondered if he had managed to fall asleep within the few short seconds it had taken him to settle down. But his mouth finally opened, “Nearly thirty miles, we’ve been heading south too.”

            “Where do you guys plan on going?”

            “I’m not telling you that. We can’t trust you quite yet, remember?” The biting sarcasm was evident in his voice.

            Elyza shrugged, “I guess, but is there any way you’d be willing to untie me? My shoulders are starting to ache. I won’t hurt you. You can shoot me if I try to.”

            She didn’t intend on trying anything anymore. She didn’t know where she was and it seemed that she was too far away from any other living creature to really be able to get away if she wanted to. The best she could do was make friends and hopefully not get kicked off of this ship.

            From what she had seen so far, the yacht was large. She hadn’t been on deck yet, but Elyza was certain that the group aboard it would be able to take on two more people. Not to mention they had an unlimited supply of food from the ocean. If they could catch it, of course. But that didn’t mean anything.

            Elyza hadn’t been on land in over two weeks, she wasn’t sure what it was like. If she thought about it hard enough, she’d give herself a headache just thinking about all of the _what ifs._ What if the military was winning? What if the dead had overrun them? The world was changed either way and she wasn’t exactly sure how to deal with that.

            Nick sighed again and stood up with a swift jerk. He walked over determinedly, digging in his back pocket for something before pulling free a switchblade. He flicked it open deftly the grabbed Elyza’s shoulder, pulling her forward and cutting the plastic of her restraints with ease.

            A groan of appreciation and painful relief left Elyza’s lips before she could control it. She brought her arms around, shoulder muscles protesting at the movement after being locked in one position for so long. Her wrists were red and blood slowly began to seep back into her fingers, making them tingle. Elyza rolled her shoulders back, working them out so the muscles would relax once again.

            “Thank you,” she murmured, stretching her body.

            The boy shrugged, “Don’t mention it.”

            Before either of them could say anything else, Alicia jogged up the stairs with a platter held in her hands. Alicia stood there, a tray in her hands, looking a little nervous and maybe a little curious. She worried at her lower lip, “Hey, I brought food.”

            “Thanks,” Elyza greeted with a slight nod as Nick moved to take the tray from Alicia. He set it on the table, but Alicia didn’t move, only shifted from foot to foot in the doorway.

            “Need something, Lish?” Nick asked.

            She nodded at him first before facing Elyza, “Yeah, um, your brother, he’s awake. My mom’s down there with him.”

            Elyza jumped up at that, her abdominals protesting with every movement. Her body was still aching and her neck emitted a dull throb along with her heartbeat. But she was still lucky, she knew. She could be dead, things could be worse. But she didn’t want Aden saying anything that would make these people doubt her story. She was also glad he was awake.

            “Really?” Her eyes widened as she glanced between the two people before her, “Can I see him?” She hoped they took her urgency as impatience to see her brother and ensure his well-being and nothing else.

            Nick licked his lips and turned to look at Alicia, who shrugged, she really didn’t have a problem with it. There was no reason they should keep the two separated. She honestly didn’t agree with anything that the adults were doing. People were the only ones you could trust anymore, there were only a few left.

            “Fine, yeah. Eat first then we’ll take you to him.”

            Elyza nodded and tried not to show the pain she felt when she moved forward to reach the tray. A sandwich of chicken salad sat on the platter next to a glass of water. It wasn’t the most luxurious meal in the world, but Elyza wasn’t complaining. She felt like she’d eat a can of sardines if she could just get something in her ravenous stomach.

            She shifted to sit down on the couch and pulled the tray towards her. But something twisted in the pit of her stomach, something dreadful, “How is Aden? Does he need medical attention? Has anyone seen to the gunshot wound on his side?”

            “Don’t worry,” Alicia said, leaning her left shoulder against the wall adjacent to the door. “I cleaned up the wound and covered it. I think it needs stitches more than your neck does. Though, I think you might be a better judge of that.”

            Elyza nodded, “Has he woken up yet?”

            Alicia hesitated, her eyes shifted from Elyza’s up to stare at the air above her head, “Yeah, he has. I managed to coax him back to sleep though.”

            “Did he say anything?” She hoped he hadn’t ruined her plan. She’d been telling everyone they were siblings so they would feel obligated to keep them together. If they found out she was lying there was a likely chance that the crew of this ship wouldn’t trust her ever again.

            “No,” Alicia pressed her lips together in a tight line. A pair of plump lips that looked very kissable, Elyza noted before trying to tamp down those thoughts. She couldn’t afford to get distracted by a pretty face, she had to earn everyone’s trust first. But something about the tone of Alicia’s voice wasn’t very convincing.

            She didn’t dwell on it though, only picked up her sandwich carefully and shove a large mouthful into her mouth. There was a large amount of mayonnaise in it and enough seasoning to make it taste good. After the first bite hit her taste buds, the full extent of her hunger tore through her and she began eating like a woman possessed.

            Elyza was almost certain she looked like a messy caveman, but couldn’t help it. The sandwich just tasted so _good._ She was halfway through it before she was able to convince herself to stop and actually wipe her face. The napkin she used came away with the heavy white cream of the mayo and she blushed, realizing she really _did_ look like a fucking caveman.

            “Sorry,” she got out after swallowing her last bite. Both Alicia and Nick were watching her, there wasn’t anything else interesting to do. Nick had a barely contained grin on his face, amused by Elyza. Alicia maintained an expression of barely veiled disgust and a hint of something that made Elyza blush harder. She was looking like a complete idiot in front of a pretty girl. She _really_ had no game, Wells was right.

            A pang of longing and grief flushed through her chest in a cold rush. Tears pricked at her eyes at the memory of her best friend. He’d always teased at her that she would never get another girlfriend after letting Niylah slip away so easily. He said she had no game and that the only thing she had going for her was that she was mediocrely attractive.

            Wells had only ever been teasing her, never serious. He did think that she was attractive, but also believed that nobody was good enough for her. Wells was her best friend and very much like her brother. She regretted having not seen him in over two years before she’d visited Santa Monica, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

            She cleared her throat and set the sandwich down on the table. The memories were forced back and into a small box that Elyza conjured mentally. She locked it and mentally tossed the key into a deep, dark lake where she’d never find them. She couldn’t afford to focus on the past, not anymore, not with so many dangers surrounding her.

            Elyza sipped at the water provided to her before finishing off the sandwich with a couple more bites. “Alright, I want to see Aden please.”

            Alicia hadn’t moved from her position against the wall while Elyza ate, but now she stepped forward and stood straight, “Okay, I’ll take you down to him.”

            “I’m going to tell Strand. We’ll give you about twenty minutes with him before Strand will probably want to question you again. I have to admit, I’m curious about what you have to say too.” Nick waved a lazy salute, touching his fingers to his brow before leaving the room in search of his leader.

            His departure left Alicia and Elyza alone. The blonde glanced at the girl in front of her, who was worrying her lower lip in thought. Her eyebrows were drawn together.

            Elyza wasn’t sure whether or not she should ask, but decided there was nothing to lose. “What are you thinking about?”

            “Why’d you lie?”

            Elyza’s heart jumped in her chest at the question. It wasn’t really a question wondering if she had lied, which meant that Alicia knew without a doubt that she had. “What did I lie about?”

            “You and Aden,” Alicia seemed to gain confidence. Her chin lifted in a show of defiance and superiority, “He told me when he woke up that you guys weren’t related.”

            A huff of air left Elyza’s lips unintentionally, “Oh. I just…well, I don’t know you and your people. He’s not my brother, but if he was…you would want to keep us together, right?”

            “Just because you two aren’t related, doesn’t mean we don’t want to keep you together. My family and our friends aren’t horrible. Strand is just cautious and Daniel is…well, I don’t know. But my mom and Travis, they’re just trying to keep us safe,” Alicia explained, crossing her arms back over her chest.

            Elyza only shrugged and stood, “Either way, blood is thicker right? Can you please not tell anyone?” She felt like she could trust Alicia, somewhere deep inside of her she just _knew._ There was something about the broody looking teenager that screamed _trustworthy._

            Hesitancy crossed her face before several other emotions Elyza couldn’t quite place did the same thing. Wide, doe-y green eyes bore into hers, searching before finally settling. “Fine, I won’t tell anyone. But you need to be honest with us. We can’t just let you in here.”

            “That’s fair,” Elyza raised her hands to placate the brunette, “What do you want to know about me?”

            A pink tongue peaked out from between Alicia’s lips, wetting them. “How old are you?”

            “Twenty-two, you?”

            “Seventeen. Where were you when it happened?”

            Elyza’s jaw clamped shut. There was obviously nothing to horrifying about how thing initially went down, but she didn’t want to talk about it. There were too many loose ends and unacknowledged emotions over what had happened, they were buried too deep to bring up now.

            “I was at the airport,” she responded vaguely. Elyza knew that the other girl was looking for something a little deeper, but she needed to stay clinical about it for her own sanity. “You?”

            If Alicia noticed her uncertainty, she didn’t say anything about it. She glanced away, seeming lost in her own thoughts and memories, “Home? School? I’m not sure, it all seemed to happen so fast. One second I was living a normal life, looking forward to college and the next I’m here.”

            The both fell silent and Elyza closed her eyes. She wondered what had happened to Alicia and her family at the beginning, where they were headed to now and if—just maybe—she and Aden could go with. _Keep moving forward, right?_ _Find somewhere safe and stay there_ , she concluded.

            “Can we go see Aden now?” She opened her eyes and found Alicia staring at her with a frown on her face. The brunette turned and averted her eyes an obvious blush creeping up her neck and cheeks.

            She nodded and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. _I bet her hair is really fucking soft,_ Elyza thought, unable to restrain. An image of running her hand through it popped into her brain before she could divert her train of thought. It was almost like Alicia could read her mind because her head ducked again, she cleared her throat and turned back towards the door.

            “Yeah, let’s go see your brother,” she used air quotes around the name and flashed a half smile over her shoulder. It lightened the air in the room and they left on a much lighter note.

            The trip back down to the lower deck was short and they stumbled into the double bedded room silently, having not spoken the entire way. Alicia’s mom sat in Alicia’s abandoned chair and staring blankly at the far wall, lost in her own head. When she heard the girls enter, her head turned at the noise.

            “Hello,” she greeted, standing after blinking several times to get back to reality. Her eyes fell on Elyza, who felt like she was being assessed for several moments. The woman held her hand out, “I’m Madison, Alicia and Nick’s mom.”

            Elyza grasped her hand, shaking for a moment before pulling back, “Elyza.”

            “I’m sorry if we’ve treated you in any inappropriate ways, we’re just trying to keep our kids safe,” she glanced at Alicia, who stood to Elyza’s right and slightly behind her, their shoulders almost brushing.

            The blonde shrugged and allowed an easy smile that wasn’t so easy, “No worries, I can understand. Parents are protective. Ah, my mum… she’d, well, she’d probably be the same way.”

            “Oh,” Madison’s eyebrows creased, “do you know where your mom is?”

            “Mom,” Alicia warned, but couldn’t get anything else out. The question was inappropriate itself, no matter how curious Alicia was about this girl.

            Elyza shrugged and flashed Alicia a grateful look, “Its okay. My mum was in Australia when all of this happened…I don’t know where she is…or if she’s alive.” She licked her lips, mouth feeling thick and dry speaking of her mom. A lump formed in the back of her throat and she tried to blink away the tears that threatened to fall. At the mere mention of her mother.

            “Oh, I’m sorry,” Madison muttered lamely, shoving her hands into the pockets of her jeans awkwardly.

            “Alright, mom. Let’s give Elyza a moment with her brother, please.” Alicia took her mom by the crook of her elbow and looped their arms together. They exited the room and Alicia closed the door behind them.

            Elyza took a seat in the chair next to the bed. Aden was sleeping again. His hair was damp from sweat and water, making it look almost brown even though a few traces of blonde were visible. He was sleeping again and Elyza saw that there was a new, clean bandage crudely taped to his waist.

            “Aden?” she shook his shoulder softly and he groaned. His eyelids fluttered for a moment before they opened, dazed and unfocused from sleep. He blinked several times before he seemed to realize who was sitting next to him.

            “Elyza?” he croaked, voice thick from sleep and lack of use. “Where are we?”

            “On a yacht. Some people picked us up. We were drifting. What’s the last thing you remember?”

            The boy reached out and took a hold of Elyza’s hand, his palms were sweaty. “We were being shot at,” he turned onto his back and closed his eyes, remembering, “I was shot,” he let go of her hand and ghosted his over the bandage covering the wound, “we had to jump overboard. Then the Freedom exploded.”

            “Yeah, well I guess we survived, now we’re here.”

            “What about the others? Your friends?”

            “I don’t know, we’ll have to figure that out once you’re better,” she deflected, “how are you feeling?”

            “My throat hurts, my side is throbbing and my head feels like a train rammed through it. Is this what a hangover is supposed to feel like? If so, I don’t ever want to have one.” His hand moved to his forehead and he squeezed his eyes shut, a wrinkle forming between his eyebrows as he grimaced. He opened them again when he felt the cloth on his forehead.

            “Don’t move it,” Elyza set her hand over his, keeping it in place. “It’s just to get your temperature down. You’re sick, probably dehydrated. Here,” she reached behind her and grabbed her cup from earlier, handing it to him after filling it up.

            He drank heartily for several long moments before speaking again, “So what are we doing now?”

            “Well, these people aren’t the most trusting.” She gestured to his restraints, “I’m going to tell them everything that’s happened to me, well, us. I told them you were my brother.”

            “Um, isn’t that going to be hard to pull off? I’m American and I kind of already told that girl we weren’t related.”

            She hadn’t really thought of that and cursed, “Shit, well, maybe you lived in the States with our dad or something?” She pushed the memories of her father away. It was a lot easier to do than with her mother, since he had been gone for a couple of years before any of this had even happened.

            “This is going to be difficult, Elyza,” Aden pointed out.

            “I know,” she sighed and proceeded to tell him everything about her parents just in case he was asked to provide back up for her story. She explained how her dad was an engineer and then modified the story to explain that he had been relocated to the States after him and “their” mom had gotten a divorce. Aden had been young and gone with him, only seeing his sister and mother half of the year. Elyza had stayed in Australia because she was already nine years old and they didn’t want to uproot her life.

            Elyza ran down that her mom was a doctor and they lived in Brisbane, Australia. Then she tried to explain as much as she could about her parents that she could remember without getting emotional. It was hard, but Aden seemed to hang on to her every word, so she tried to maintain some semblance of composure.

            “Okay,” she finally sighed, “If they ask you anything that you don’t know the answer to, just be as vague as possible. We _have_ to keep this up as best we can.”

            “I get it,” Aden nodded before submitting to a fit of coughing that had him wheezing afterward.

            Elyza squeezed his shoulder, “You should get some more rest, we can’t have you sick forever.”

            The young boy nodded, sinking back into his pillows. His eyes were heavy lidded and Elyza knew that it would only be a couple of minutes until he fell asleep. As he drifted, she changed out his wash cloth, bathing it in the now lukewarm water that sat on his bedside table before ringing it out and placing it back on his forehead.

            Mere minutes after his breathing had finally fallen into a deep rhythm, the door opened. Nick ducked his nappy head in, hair falling over his cheek, “Hey, you gotta come with me now. Strand wants to talk to you.”

            Elyza wasn’t afraid of Strand, she was almost certain that he would underestimate her if it came down to any sort of physical altercation. She didn’t think that it would, but _nobody_ was going to force her to say anything. She wouldn’t allow it.

            She nodded and stood without a word, squeezed Aden’s hand one more time before exiting the bedroom to follow a stranger.

~   ~   ~

            The interrogation was going well. Elyza had been lead to what she assumed was the captain’s control room. A line of electronics peered out over the bow of the ship. They were sleek and modern, set over a black table. A captain’s chair sat bolted into the floor where Strand stretched out his long body. Elyza was sat on the opposite low black couch with her legs crossed underneath her.

            Daniel sat on the smaller couch adjacent to her, face impassive as ever. Travis stood, leaning against the small table covering part of the staircase that lead up to the room. The other boy, the one who must have been the same age as Alicia stood near the stairs, leaning against the locked storage closets along the wall. Nick had decided to sit this one out, stating before he left that he would just ask Elyza herself personally when he was free.

            “Go over it again, what happened on the Freedom?” Strand asked.

            They’d been doing this for nearly two hours and Elyza had to resist rolling her eyes. They weren’t as curious about her personal life as she’d thought they would be. Only asking a little bit about Aden, her parents and the Jahas’ who’d she’d been visiting. Then Strand had moved on to everything that had happened after the disease had become an epidemic.

            She’d gone over it nearly three times and was almost certain the sun was going to be down by the time they were finished with her. Travis had asked maybe one or two questions, mostly about her parents and her past while Daniel sat there silently, observing.

            Instead of protesting, she sucked in a deep breath before starting from the beginning once again. She went through being at LAX—with Aden—while visiting the Jahas’. She explained once again, that their father had been on a business trip for the second part of their stay in Santa Monica so it was just the four of them. Two Jahas’ and two Lexs’. She continued into how the airport had been infected, like a wave infected every person within minutes.

            Elyza explained the Blakes’ and Finn, then how she had left Aden with them to go in search of their family friends. The Blakes’ were trustworthy, she reiterated after Strand questioned why she would leave her baby brother with strangers. She even told them how she’d holed up for days in a storage unit drinking herself into oblivion—her unhealthy version of coping.

            She described her first kill. Her kidnapping. Her experience on the Freedom and then on the Pearl Harbor. Described what the doctor was doing on the Freedom and how her and her newfound friends had tried to figure out what was going on. The explosion and then waking up on the yacht.

            Both Travis and the boy grumbled when she told them about drawing a gun on Alicia and then attacking Ofelia, but she was sure to explain that they were both isolated, misunderstandings. She wasn’t violent, not unless she needed to be.

            “So Los Angeles is dead?” Strand asked once she finished.

            Elyza could only shrug, “From what I saw, it was going up in flames. A final showdown, I would assume.”

            “The only way to know for sure would be to go back,” Travis added, “We’re too far away to do that.”

            “Were not going anywhere near Los Angeles,” Strand agreed, waving away the idea.

            Before anyone could ask Elyza anymore questions, the welcoming face of Alicia peaked over the railing from the stairwell, “Do you guys think you should take a break? I found some stuff for stitches and Aden is still bleeding.”

            Travis glanced to Strand, asking his permission before giving an answer.

            “Sure, for now. But I’ll find you when we need to talk again, and we _will_ need to talk again,” Strand gave Elyza a pointed look before swiveling his chair around to stare out at the ocean, a clear invitation for everyone to leave.

            Elyza was up first, rushing around to start down the stairs, nearly barreling into Alicia when she did so. She managed to grab onto the railing and Alicia’s arm before they both went tumbling down the treacherous stairwell.

            “Sorry,” she chuckled after they managed to make an awkward descent, cheeks flushed bright red, “I was just _really_ glad to get out of there. You’re my knight in shining armor.”

            Alicia rolled her eyes and led Elyza through the main living space and back down into the cramped passageway leading to the room the blonde had woken up in. “No big deal, I think you deserve a break. Well, to stitch up Aden, but still.”

            “Yeah thanks,” Elyza shoved her hands deep into her borrowed pants pockets. “So do you want to talk?”

            Alicia was ahead of her, so she couldn’t see her face, only the soft waves of her hair as it fell over her shoulders and down her back. “Aren’t you tired of talking?”

            “Of what happened to me? Yes.”

            “Then what do you _want_ to talk about?” Alicia stepped to the side to allow Elyza room to enter the suite Aden was settled in. He was still asleep, though he’d turned onto his uninjured side and spread himself out just a little more.

            Elyza took a seat on her bed, watching Aden’s chest rise and fall steadily, “I don’t know,” she replied in a shushed voice, “something normal. Something that doesn’t have to do with our new lives.”

            “I can understand that,” Alicia settled down next to her, though far enough away as was appropriate. The brunette was intrigued by the Australian woman sitting next to her. She was the first person besides the Salazars and Strand that Alicia had met since everything had happened. She was insanely curious to find out what had happened to Elyza as opposed to everything that had occurred with her family. But she knew now wasn’t the time. Instead, she changed the subject, “What’s your favorite color?”

            Elyza tore her eyes from Aden and grinned at Alicia, who couldn’t help but grin back, “Are we playing twenty questions before I perform surgery on this kid?”

            “Even better,” Alicia’s smile widened until it was full blown, beautiful and so dazzling Elyza had to tear her eyes away, “we’ll play _while_ you perform surgery.”

            “Oh, a challenge. I think I like this idea.”


	16. The Calm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alicia and Elyza get to know each other better. Aden tries to hit on girls. It doesn't work. Strand give Elyza a proposition she cannot refuse. A storm is brewing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm really sorry I've been MIA on ALL of my stories this past month. But since I have started working its gotten a lot harder to write and I apologize about that. I'm also doing summer classes so when I am not at work, I'm doing that. This past week I got a little ahead so I was able to update this which I am really happy about. Thank you for your patience!  
> I hope you enjoy, leave a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks to all of those who have already left your comments! I really appreciate them!  
> Enjoy,  
> TGF

_**Chapter Sixteen: The Calm** _ ****

            The rest of the day past by swiftly. Strand didn’t ask for Elyza again and she got the chance to suture up Aden’s side. Alicia ended up calling in Travis and Nick to help hold him down while Elyza did it, because they didn’t have anything to numb the area with.

            After that, they left Aden to rest. When Elyza didn’t hear anything from Strand that day, she assumed he was considering letting them stay. At least he wasn’t tossing them overboard for the sharks to enjoy. Elyza didn’t see him the rest of the day, in fact.

            Once Aden was settled, Alicia took Elyza on a tour of the ship. There was a mirroring bedroom just behind the one Elyza deemed the Sick Room where Aden was staying. It had two twin beds, the same desk and a small closet. Another, master bedroom with a queen sized bed and a master bathroom was directly across from the sick room. A small bathroom with a very tiny, glass shower was directly outside and to the left, nestled between the two doors to the master bedroom and the sick one.

            A staircase wound upwards towards the main area with its dining room and connected entertainment room. If Elyza kept walking straight, she entered the white colored crew quarters. But Alicia took her up the stairs and showed her the lower deck.

            Outside, it was hot and the sun beat down on the wooden deck. She could feel her skin crisping underneath the shirt she had on after a few minutes. It was a good thing the lounge couch was white or it would have been bleached by the overwhelming amount of sunlight shining down on it. Elyza had to shade her eyes it was so bright.

            Alicia took her further down to the swimming deck where she explained at the dingy boat was in the wall before opening it up and pointing out that they had gone out on it to rescue Elyza and Aden. After explaining what was inside of the cramped dark corridor they closed it and gazed out at the ocean.

            Elyza was impressed and her fingers twitched. The water was so blue and expanded out endlessly in all directions. The horizon was a brilliant blue that blurred with the hazy, sparkling of the ocean. She imagined what it would look like once the sun hit the horizon and the light reflected off of the fluffy white clouds lazily rolling through the sky.

            It would be beautiful, she knew and wished she had something to draw it with. But Elyza wouldn’t be asking Alicia for anything and leisure as drawing utensils, they had bigger problems to deal with. Aden was sick and their fate was still unknown. She didn’t have the time to be drawing.

            “So where are you from?” Alicia broke their companionable silence. Elyza was surprised how easily she fell into a simple conversation with the quiet brunette. She wasn’t outright friendly, but there was a quiet, calming atmosphere that seemed to draw Elyza in. Maybe it was the steadfast confidence she sensed, but Elyza felt comfortable.

            Elyza shrugged, “Australia. I’ve been going to University for awhile and I planned on becoming a doctor. Melbourne has a lot of beaches and I was there most of the time.”

            Alicia pursed her lips and Elyza caught the frown on her face. It was one of those deep in thought expressions that people got when they were thinking hard about something. Elyza realized her response had been a little clipped and bumped her shoulder against Alicia’s, drawing her attention.

            “Want to hear a secret?

            The brunette nodded and an easy half-smile graced her lips at the conspiratorial tone of the stranger next to her.

            Elyza’s grin widened, “I was about to tell my mum that I was dropping out of medical school. Most of my time was spent at the beach anyway and my grades were paying the price for that. I guess I got lucky in the sense that now I won’t have to deal with my mum’s disappointment.”

            Alicia’s eyebrows shot up her forehead, “Huh, I didn’t peg you as the rebellious type.”

            “Oh, babe, I am _most definitely_ not the rebellious type. I just wasn’t happy in the medical field. I like helping people, but I’m not as passionate or good at it as my mum is.” Elyza laughed and Alicia shook her head, nodding towards the stairs.

            “Come on, Lex. I’m not done showing you the ship.” She rolled her eyes with her back turned to the pretty blonde behind her. Alicia tried to ignore the sentiment Elyza used, but it was useless and her cheeks flushed. She was just thankful that Elyza couldn’t see it because she had a feeling she’d be teased about it.

~   ~   ~

            Alicia was lying on her back in the spare bedroom next to the sick one Aden was in. Her mom and Travis were across the hall in the master bedroom still, but since they had added two new members to their crew, some adjustments had to be made. Ofelia had begun to feel feverish and weak later in the evening after dinner, so she was sharing the room with Aden.

            Strand insisted on staying in the wheel house on the little uncomfortable lounge up there instead of in an actual bed. Chris, Nick and Daniel shared the small, double bunk beds in the crew quarters. Which left Alicia the spare bedroom to share with Elyza.

            They had spent a lot of time together that night. It seemed to her that Elyza was sticking to her like glue because everyone else was giving her the cold, suspicious shoulder. Alicia actually had to pull her mother aside to ask her to stop making the blonde so uncomfortable.

            The only other person besides herself who had been at all welcoming was Travis, for which, Alicia was grateful. He tried to involved her in the conversation while they ate dinner—a mixture of fish and canned vegetables—and asked her questions about her life.

            “Hey,” a voice drifted lazily through the darkness, “you awake?”

            The Australian drawl of Elyza’s voice sent shivers down Alicia’s spine. The accent was even thicker with the heaviness of sleep lacing through it. She hummed and turned, tucking the cooler side of the pillow under her neck and lying on her side, facing Elyza. It was too dark to see the blonde completely, but she could catch the slight glimmer of her blonde hair in the faint light.

            “Yeah, I am.”

            “I just realized something,” came the drowsy response.

            “What?” Alicia prompted after a moment of silence.

            “I don’t know all that much about you.”

            Alicia smiled in the darkness, glad that the stranger next to her was curious enough about her to want to know more. But then that smile faded when she remembered everything that had been happening to her these last couple of weeks. Her mind drifted to Matt and the clench in her stomach tightened further at the realization that he was dead and she was in the middle of the ocean. There would be no Berkeley or getting married and having kids. No travelling the world or finally going to New York.

            Elyza’s voice drew her from her reverie, “If you don’t want to talk about it, you don’t have to.”

            “No, no,” she blinked and settled further into the sheets, finding a more comfortable position, “how about you ask me a question, then I ask you a question?”

            “Sounds good to me. We never finished our twenty questions earlier.”

            “Then ask me a question,” Alicia muffled a yawn in her pillow.

            “What’s your favorite color?”

            The brunette chuckled and listened as Elyza shifted, the sheets rustling softly. She imagined Elyza was doing the same thing she was, turning on her side and getting comfortable. “I really like the color blue, but since I’ve been out here, it’s gotten to the point where I’m tired of it.”

            Elyza hummed softly, “What kind of blue is your favorite though? Ocean blue? Sky blue?”

            “That’s not how this game works, Lex. It’s my turn to ask the question.”

            The blonde let out a sleepy grumble at being denied an answer but huffed out anyway, “Fine, what’s your question?”

            Alicia thought about it for a second. There wasn’t much she knew about Elyza, except where she was from and all that had happened to her after the world had succumbed to the disease. She also knew that Elyza didn’t have a favorite color and she liked to talk about them a lot. Their shading and how they make her feel, she had gone on for several minutes about turquoise until Travis had entered the room.

            “You said you were going to drop out of medical school, right?”

            “Is that your question?”

            “No, that’s just me asking for confirmation, smartass,” she grumbled.

            “Yes, I was going to drop out.”

            “Okay, so if you had dropped out, what were you going to do?”

            Elyza was silent for several moments, opting to allow them to settle back into silence. The only sound that could be heard was the steady hum of the engine as they continued to move. It wasn’t too late at night, which probably meant Strand was still up, navigating them further and further away from everything Alicia knew.

            “I was going to go back to University and get a degree in Art History and maybe do something art related. I’ve always wanted to do that, but I was too afraid to deviate from my mom’s plan for me after my dad died.”

            Alicia’s heart clenched in her chest, harder than the knots her stomach was already in. She knew how that felt. Her dad had gone off and left them, then proceeded to die too. She wasn’t super emotional about it anymore, he had been a drunk and drug addict from the very beginning. Unable to hold down a job, he never took care of the family. It was always her mom. She could remember all of the times Madison had come home late from work and then argued with her father about money and things that didn’t really matter.

            At the time, Alicia had found it normal for parents to scream and cuss at each other. She would always wake up to it when she was little, but Nick was always there for her. He would whisper that one day it would all be okay and that she should just go back to sleep. He always knew that it affected her more than she let on, that mommy and daddy were fighting all of the time.

            Since mom was always working and dad was always off trying to find his next fix—whether it be drugs or alcohol—Alicia had learned to be self-sufficient from a young age. Nick had tried to help her, but she’d always denied him, insisting that _she_ could make them dinner and that _she_ could do the laundry, just as long as Nick did his underwear because _those_ were gross.

            “Hey.”

            “Hmm,” Alicia blinked and realized she was not her seven-year-old self anymore.

            “Where did you go?”

            “Nowhere. What was your dad like?”

            “It’s my turn to ask a question, cutie, not yours.”

            Alicia rolled her eyes, “Fine.”

            “It’s the same as before, what kind of blue is your favorite?”

            “You know when it’s about to rain and the sky turns this gray color and it gets thick and humid?”

            “Yeah,” Elyza confirmed.

            “Well, when I was younger, my dad would sometimes take me down to the beach for ice cream. Just us, it was our daddy/daughter time, I guess. But once, when I was about nine we were sitting on a bench watching the sky get darker and darker with storm clouds. The water got more unruly and churned. It reached this gray blue color that I’ve always found fascinating.”

            Elyza turned onto her back and listened to the wistful whisper as Alicia described the scene for her. She could see it in her head, every detail slowly sketched out mentally in her own handwriting until she had a complete mental image. A smile turned up at the corners of her mouth, “That sounds nice. Were you and your dad close?”

            “Not really…he left just before my tenth birthday, we didn’t see him for nearly a year. He came around on Nick’s thirteenth birthday and my eleventh, then it was too late. He died in a car accident not long after.” A lump slowly developed in her throat at the hazy memories she had of her dad. Most of them we bad, arguing and yelling. Then he was stumbling into the house smelling like smoke and alcohol. There were some good mixed in though, like game night where they would normally play Monopoly. Or those good days when he would take her to get ice cream or they would go down the pier to sit and look out at the end because Alicia always wanted to be closer to the horizon.

            Silence enveloped them again, a morose one but still comfortable. The small distance that separated their beds was easily breached with Elyza reached out boldly. She searched blindly until her hand found Alicia’s crooked elbow, was underneath her head. She squeezed lightly and moved her hand away, “I get it. My dad died a couple of years ago. He was probably my biggest fan.”

            As the dry, warmth of Elyza’s hand tried to escape, Alicia made a sudden, emotional movement and grabbed a hold of it. She laced her fingers through Elyza’s and tried to keep the hot tears pricking at her eyes from escaping. She didn’t trust her voice at the moment, afraid that it would crack, so instead she squeezed, hoping to get her point across.

            After a moment, Elyza squeezed back once and her fingers relaxed in Alicia’s. “Well this got depressing really fast.”

            Alicia let out a wet, strangled laugh that she wasn’t expecting. She sniffed and shifted, but kept a firm hold on Elyza. “Tell me about your dad.”

            “Oh man, he was great. I was always attached to his hip as a little kid, even as a teenager. He was into everything, from fixing cars to hiking and surfing. He was really athletic and smart. His dad—my granddad—told me a story about how my dad was out picking up branches when I was about two. I guess I was a clumsy toddler but I still stumbled along behind him. Anyway, my dad was tossing them all into a pile and I saw what he was doing. So instead of helping him, I just picked up each branch that he tossed into the pile and threw them all around, making another mess.

            “Granddad always used to say that I was his little shadow. We did everything together, fixed cars and went hiking. Since my mum was a doctor, she worked a lot of odd hours so he was who I spent most of my time with when I wasn’t at school. We took of fencing together and he taught me how to surf when I turned nine.

            “It was always dad and I…until I went off to University and he took up another job once I moved out. He was always a very reserved guy until you got to know him, but even then he didn’t tell you much about his personal problems unless he really trusted you. I didn’t know until it was too late that he was sick. By the time I found out he was already stuck in the hospital and more or less out of his mind from the medicine they were giving him.”

            Elyza fell silent after that, lost in her own memories of her dad, who had always been her number one fan and supporter. She missed him so much that it hurt sometimes, to the point that she feels so incredibly alone that she can’t help but cry herself to sleep. It had been awhile since that had happened, especially after spending so much time with the Jahas.

            Alicia squeezed her hand but didn’t say anything. The silent comfort alone was enough to demonstrate to Elyza that she knew what she was feeling and understood that Elyza needed a moment to collect herself. That level of understanding was unfamiliar for Elyza, since she normally had to explain to everyone around her what she meant. Nobody ever seemed to understand her in a way that was almost as instinctual as Alicia did in that moment.

            Maybe it was because they both shared the loss of a father, or maybe it was because of something more. But, in that moment, it was everything that Elyza needed.

            “Want to know what I think?”

            Elyza sucked in a deep breath and rubbed her thumb across the exposed skin of Alicia’s inner wrist, brushing over her pulse point. It succeeded in relaxing and grounding her to the point that her emotional turmoil lessened to a manageable degree. “Sure.”

            “I think you’re dad sounds pretty amazing.”

            “Oh, he was. Can we please talk about something less depressing?”

            Alicia chuckled and hummed softly. Her eyelids were beginning to feel like they weighed a ton. She felt comfortable and relaxed, more so than she had in a while. Since they’d been on this ship, she’d had a hard time sleeping. But with Elyza there, she felt safer than she had since before the world had ended.

            This room felt like home, like the two of them were wrapped up in a bubble that nothing bad could penetrate. It was different and kind of scary for both of them to feel that contented with someone else. But it was very welcome. Elyza had experienced a lot of death and negativity while Alicia had been shelter from the full extent of this disaster.

            None of that mattered though, they were both still two young girls who hadn’t known what to do when the world had been in a much more orderly fashion. When there had been an end goal for success and families and a good job, to be happy. Now neither of them knew where they were going. What happiness could you find in a world that wanted you dead? A world that went out of its way to eradicate you?

            “Why don’t we sleep?” Elyza suggested after a moment of silence. When she didn’t receive a reply, she glanced over to find Alicia fast asleep. Her jaw was slack and her forehead lacked the frown that always seemed to want to grace her features. She looked younger, like the world didn’t rest on her shoulders.

            Elyza had been so lost in thought she hadn’t felt the brunette’s hand go slack in her own. So she carefully withdrew, her hand going cold from the lack of body heat Alicia provided. She was thankful that she hadn’t jostled Alicia awake and turned on her side, away from the younger girl to try to get some sleep.

~   ~   ~

            The next morning the two girls were awoken by Madison. Elyza had already awoken with the sun as it shown weakly through the narrow window high in the wall on Alicia’s side of the room. But, she hadn’t wanted to get up because she didn’t know who to go to or what needed to be done. There could have been much work to do on the ship, even with so many people aboard it.

            Madison left them to make their beds and change into day clothes. Both girls gave each other a brief morning greeting but neither mentioned their emotional conversation the night before. Even though it was at the forefront of both of their minds, the atmosphere had changed. Their little bubble had been popped by the morning sun and the reality of the world around them.

            Alicia offered Elyza a clean shirt and the blonde changed into it, along with her borrowed pair of jeans from the day before. They made their beds in silence, but every few seconds one of them would glance up and they would make eye contact. Awkward eye contact ensued and neither of them really knew what to do about it except smile.

            “Hey,” greeted Nick from the door, “I was just in the other room and Aden is awake. He was wondering if you’d come see him.”

            Elyza turned to find him leaning against the door and taking up the entire frame. He was dressed in a loose pair of jeans and an impeccably white t-shirt. His hair was still a ratty mess, like he couldn’t be bothered to brush it. His eyes looked tired, but the hint of a smile curved at his lips as if he was finding something funny.

            “Sure,” Elyza nodded and tossed her pillow back on the bed. It wasn’t the neatest job she’d ever done, but she didn’t really care. Her philosophy on making beds was that she was just going to sleep in it again, so what was the point? But Madison had asked them to do it and she wasn’t about to go make one of the adults angry. “I think we should take him outside, it would probably do well for him to get some vitamin D in his system.”

            “That sounds like a plan to me, do you need help getting him up the stairs?”

            “I’ve got it,” Alicia stepped up next to Elyza, “if we need to carry him, I can help. You go do whatever Strand wants you to, Nick.” The aggressive undertone to her words informed Elyza that she thought her brother was being influenced by Strand and she didn’t like it.

            Nick shrugged and avoided looking at his sister, “Fine, I’m going to go up on deck. Shout if you need anything.” Then he was gone and the girls were left alone once again.

            Elyza stepped out of the room and headed down the hallway before carefully pushing the closed door to the sick room open. Aden was sitting up in bed, his back propped up against the back wall by a stack of pillows. He was still looking pale, Elyza noted upon her initial inspection of him.

            Aden’s eyes were closed, but they fluttered open when he heard them enter. His skin was damp and glistening with sweat, even though he was only partially under the covers. When he saw them a smile spread across his face, “Hey.”

            “Hey, kid. How are you feeling?” Elyza took a seat on the other bed, which was still rumpled from Ofelia sleeping in it.

            Aden shrugged, “I’m cold and hot at the same time, my head hurts and I can barely hear. Oh, and my side hurts.”

            Alicia chuckled, “Sounds like paradise to me.”

            Elyza rolled her eyes at both of them, “At least we’re both alive right?”

            “Yeah, but _you_ get to sleep in the same room as a pretty girl, how is that at all fair?” Aden huffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

            Elyza and Alicia exchanged a glance, the blonde noticed the pink tinge on the brunette’s face when their eyes met.

            “Ofelia’s pretty, Aden,” Alicia offered.

            The boy rolled his eyes and let his head loll back against the pillows, “Yeah, but she’s mean and older than you right? How old are you?”

            “I’m seventeen.”

            “Exactly! I’m fourteen! Closer in age.”

            Elyza laughed and ruffled Aden’s hair, “Kid, she’s out of your league and you shouldn’t be focusing on pretty girls. You should be more worried about getting better.”

            Alicia shook her head and rubbed a hand over her face to try to tamp down the embarrassment she was feeling. She was used to Matt telling her how beautiful and special she was, but the way these two so casually threw it out there like it was common knowledge made her uncomfortable. She had never really thought of herself as that pretty, honestly, she kind of considered herself to be a little clumsy and awkward.

            “Don’t imply that she’s in your league,” Aden retorted, turning to meet Alicia’s eyes. “She’s just trying to shoot me down so she can have you for herself.”

            It took Alicia a moment to come up with a response. She was too focused on the way her stomach flipped with the idea of Elyza wanting to pursue her. She didn’t even know the two strangers before her, but for some reason she wanted to. More than she cared to admit.

            “You know, I don’t think either of you can handle me, so let’s not worry about it so much.”

            Elyza smirked, “You think I can’t handle you? Is that a challenge?”

            Alicia tried not to blush at the way that smirk made her feel. Her heart threatened to burst from her chest so she crossed her arms and quirked an eyebrow, trying to maintain a straight face, “No, it’s just a fact. Now let’s get Aden upstairs. I’m sure he’s hungry.”

            Together, Elyza and Alicia helped Aden out of bed. He changed into a pair of borrowed shorts and a loose fitting tank top. Both hung off of his body because they were too big, but it was all they had for the time being. The boy whined and complained a little too much, managing to sound pitiful and in pain the entire time they maneuvered him. Elyza didn’t know him that well at all, but he was clearly girl crazy and thought that acting like he was more seriously injured than he was would get more of Alicia’s attention.

            Elyza wasn’t jealous per say, especially since she’d only known Alicia for about a day. But she did feel oddly possessive and felt a jealous heat spread through her stomach at the way Aden was acting. She had no right to feel this way about a girl she had just met, but that didn’t mean she could really help it.

            Eventually, Aden had his arm wrapped around Elyza’s neck while she supported most of his weight as they ascended the stairs. Alicia trailed behind them to make sure that neither of them fell and if they did, she would be the one to break their fall. She actually found it entertaining the way they bickered like siblings, even though they didn’t even know each other at all.

            “God, Aden, you weigh a ton. Where do you hide it all?” Elyza groaned once they made it onto the lower deck and Aden was slouched on the full length couch with the sun pounding down overhead.

            The boy grinned up at her and shifted over to so he was more comfortable, “It’s all muscle. I’m a very active guy.”

            Elyza rolled her eyes, “You need to tone it down like three levels, please. You’re not impressing anyone.”

            Aden scoffed and turned to Alicia, who was still under the shaded porch area. “Am I not impressing anyone?”        

            “Oh, you’re impressing me alright.” Alicia nodded encouragingly.

            “See?” Aden smirked in victory. “I’m doing something right.”

            “Oh come on!” Elyza protested, turning to Alicia fully, “You’re kidding right? Don’t go boosting his ego, he doesn’t need it.”

            Alicia chuckled and Elyza lost her train of thought at the soft sound. It was cute and endearing and it took a moment for her to remember what was going on around her, “I’m impressed that he’s gone on and on without getting any reaction. You’re a persistent one, Aden. But I do have to say that I’m not falling for it, so you should stop while you’re ahead, kid.”

            Aden pouted and laid flat on his back, basking in the early morning glow. The sun was coming over the horizon and the damp chill seeped under their skin. The clouds were gathering further west and it looked like it would be raining later in the day to Elyza. But for now, the sun was rising and it was the start of a new day.

            “Hey, guys,” Nick called from the upper deck, leaning over the railing to see straight down.

            “What the hell are you doing, Nick?” Alicia called up, pin wheeling backwards to see her brother above them.

            “Nothing, Strand just wanted me to get Elyza and I heard you guys talking. He wants to talk to you, though, Elyza.” Nick glanced away from his sister to the blonde.

            They both knew that this was the decision that Strand had spent his sweet time making. Aden wasn’t exactly sure what was going on though, he had been too busy being sick and injured to do much more than worry about himself.

            Elyza shared a glance with Alicia before calling back up to Nick, “I’ll be up there in a second. He’s in the wheel house, right?”

            Nick was already heading back inside when they heard his shouted response, “Where else would he be?”

            “He always has to be a smartass, I’m sorry.” Alicia apologized.

            The blonde shrugged, it didn’t really matter to her. “Don’t worry about it. I’m going to head upstairs. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

            Before Alicia could reply, Elyza was rushing inside and taking the twisting staircase two at a time. When she was high enough to see over the top of the stairs, she spoke up, “You wanted to see me?”

            Strand was sitting at his captain’s chair and leaning heavily against his control panel. He was staring intently out at sea, as if seeing something that was too far away from anyone else. It looked to Elyza like he was trying to will the boat to move faster, as if he had somewhere he needed to be and there was a time crunch to get there.

            “You called for me?” she prompted before ascending the rest of the stairs when he acknowledged her.

            “Yes,” he turned in his seat and stood up. “I’m going to allow you to stay with us as long as you would like to. But you have to pull your weight. When we need supplies, I’ll need you to participate. Since Aden is so young he can just help on board, I don’t want to be responsible for the death of a child if something may happen. But you need to pull your weight. So I need to know a little bit about your skills.”

            Elyza thought about this for a second. She was thankful Strand wasn’t going to just abandon her and Aden, but she was worried that he might change his mind eventually. Even though he seemed like the type of person to keep his word if he could, but Elyza still couldn’t completely trust him. She intended on being completely honest with him and let the cards fall where they may in the end. She really only had herself and Aden to worry about anymore. There was no reason to dwell on the past when she didn’t even know if any of her friends were alive.

            “I know a lot of self-defense and have a lot of survival skills. My dad used to take me to archery classes and I’ve known how to shoot a gun since I was about eleven,” Elyza stated, thinking back on it. She was well equipped skill wise to survive in the wild. She’d been camping more times than she could count and her father had even taught her how to set game traps. She never understood _why_ or found it very interesting, but it was still fun to spend time with him. She had mostly been interested in the guns and weapons involved because she had always been the dare-devil type. Her father had told her countless times that she would get herself hurt if she wasn’t more cautious and careful.

            Strand nodded, “Do you know how to hunt? Like on land.”

            “Kind of, I’ve been once or twice. Never on my own and my skills are pretty rusty. But I could probably learn pretty quickly. Why? Are we going to go on land?”

            Strand shook his head, “This boat won’t go inland and we need to keep moving. But we’re pushing our limit when it comes to fuel and I feel like you would be a good asset to have during this…time.”

            “So you want to use me?” Elyza prompted.

            “No, that’s not what I mean,” Strand amended, “I just mean that it will be good for everyone on this crew to have someone with your skill set with us.”

            “You’re keeping Aden and I here because you want to use my skills.”

            “You make it sound bad. From what you’ve explained to me, you’ve experienced the depth of what’s going on. The only reason anyone is going to survive now is if they adapt to their surroundings. You have adapted, half of the people on this boat have not. Alicia, Ofelia, Travis…none of them have really experienced the undead in the way you have. I need you with me so we can make sure all of us survive. Isn’t that what you want?”

            Elyza couldn’t deny that she wanted everyone to live. That’s all she ever wanted to do, was save people. That was why she went after Harper, Jasper and Monty. That was why she ended up telling those soldiers that the Blakes and Finn were still out there somewhere. But it always seemed to end badly for her.

            “You’re right,” she admitted begrudgingly, “so what do you want me to do specifically?”

            “I want you to be my left hand. While Nick is my right hand, he helps me with navigation and does the things I need him to. You, I want to watch the crew. They don’t all like the way I’m running things and I need you to ensure the peace for me. Also, I think you’re the most qualified to lead onshore raids so if we ever need to run for supplies, you will be leading.” Strand turned to look out towards the shore, or what Elyza thought was the direction of the shore. “Can I trust you to do that?”

            The room was silent and heavy with the question because could he trust Elyza? There was no ulterior motive here for Elyza except to guarantee the survival of the people she cared about. But who was she caring about now? If Strand was so conservative about not wanting her and Aden aboard, he wouldn’t be going after her friends who could be just as ship wrecked as she had been. So there was nothing Elyza could really do but go along with Strand.

            “Of course, anything else?” She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned her hip against the edge of the stairs.

            “Yes, you’ll need a weapon. I want you to keep it on you at all times.” Strand moved deliberately over towards the couch. He leaned over it and opened a small drawer nestled within the desk there. When he came away from it, he held a handgun in a holster with straps that went around someone’s thigh. A gnarly looking knife was also sheathed with a single, long strap that could be looped through a belt.

            Elyza took them from him when he offered the items.

            “Don’t wear these around the ship, only if the need arises. Keep them hidden at all times and don’t let Alicia know you have them.”

            “Why not?”

            “She’ll end up telling her mother or someone else and then we’ll have another argument on our hands. Madison is a very protective mother, if you haven’t already noticed. To her, you’re still a child and children should not have weapons, even in this new world.” Strand stepped away and returned to his position at the controls. He sounded exasperated and a little annoyed at the way he described Madison, but Elyza wasn’t going to be able to draw a conclusion on just the limited views of the man before her.

            Instead, Elyza slid the knife into her back pocket and tucked the gun under her arm, “I understand. Can I go?”

            “Yes, make sure your brother is feeling well and I’ll have Nick come and get you if I need you, okay?”

            Elyza nodded but didn’t speak only turned and descended the stairs. She wasn’t sure what she was getting herself into but there was no helping it. Once she reached the common area, Elyza noticed Aden and Alicia sitting on the deck with Nick. They didn’t notice her and she quickly turned and descended the stairs to place her newfound weapons underneath her mattress and make sure they were well hidden.

            Once she was satisfied, she went back upstairs and approached the group outside. Nick noticed her first and grinned, “Hey, how’d it go?”

            “Yeah, can we stay?” Aden piped up, though he didn’t seem all that concerned about it.

            “Yeah, we can. You just have to get better and start pulling your weight, freeloader.”

            “Excuse me, I got _shot._ ”

            “Speaking of which,” Alicia piped up, “so did Elyza. Maybe we should check on that.”

            Nick laughed, “Since when are you a caretaker?”

            “Since you became a drug addict,” Alicia shot back and smirked when her brother instantly shut down. He never seemed to realize how much she had done for him, especially through his withdraws.

            Elyza rolled her eyes, “It doesn’t hurt. I think the saltwater did it a world of good, thank you.” She was being honest too, her neck didn’t ache much except for the occasional dull throb when she turned it too much in the wrong direction. But besides that, her ribs still ached—she was sure that wouldn’t be healed for a while—and her head still hurt but she felt _good_ all things considered.

            “It should probably be looked at anyway.” Alicia said, placing her elbows on the table and giving Elyza a look that she could only equate to a _mum look._

            “’Lish, you look like mom right now,” Nick noted.

            Alicia stuck her tongue out and wrinkled her nose at the apparent insult. “Shut up, Nick.”

            Elyza laughed at the expression on the brunette’s face and nudged her over so she should have a seat on the couch, “Why don’t we play a game?”

            “What kind of game?” Aden asked.  

            “Well, while the dead were rising, we didn’t really have a chance to collect a whole bunch of board games. But I think Strand has a chess board somewhere. Not sure if that’ll do us any good, I don’t know how to play.” Nick suggested.

            “Chess?” Elyza grinned and her spirits lifted. Just the thought of the strategic board game brought back happy memories of her time with Wells. They would always banter and talk shit about each other whilst playing. Wells had always been the better player, thinking out every move and looking at the bigger picture. Elyza would just react to his actions, blocking him off and hoping to realize his end goal before he got to it. She was constantly on the defense but she still loved the intellectual part of it because she got to spend time with her best friend doing something she loved.

            “Ew, no. That game is so boring,” Aden slouched onto the couch to the point that the table obstructed Elyza’s view of him.

            She huffed at him, “I happen to love chess. Where is it, Nick? I’ll go get it, unless nobody wants to play with me.”

            Nick glanced at Alicia who stared back at them. Elyza was almost certain they were having one of those sibling conversations that didn’t consist of words. She would never understand that, but hoped that her and Wells might have been able to do something similar because they knew each other so well.

            “I’ve never played, but if you’d teach me, I’m willing,” Alicia finally said, turning to smile at Elyza. They were sitting close together and the bright, vivid light of the rising sun lit up Alicia’s eyes. They were a vibrant, sparkling green that managed to take Elyza’s breath away even more than the smile that seemed to come so easy to the brunette.

~   ~   ~

            Two hours later and Aden had retreated indoors with Nick, who was showing him the engine room. The young boy found the mechanics interesting and asked questions Nick didn’t know the answers to. Instead, he gave Aden a manual for the filtration system and then took him back down to his room to rest and get some food in his system.

            Strand had come outside and moved to the captain’s wheel on the upper deck. Nick was sunbathing on one of the lounge chairs up there and Daniel was fishing off of the side of the boat. It was boring and lazy and Elyza understood why people would go stir crazy when there was nothing to do but sit there.

            After a while the view grew less interesting and more repetitive. But for Elyza, she was too wrapped up in an intelligent, beautiful brunette with the most attractive eyes and smile to really care. They were in the middle of their third or fourth game and Alicia was just now getting more familiar with strategy after becoming comfortable with the different movements of the pieces.

            They had spoken about a variety of things, from their favorite subjects in school to some of Alicia’s friends and Elyza’s Wells to how similar their mothers were. It was easy to fall into a conversation with Alicia, Elyza noticed, because she just so inviting and funny. Her jokes were too cheesy to be legitimately funny but Elyza didn’t care so long as she could make the brunette smile.

            “This moves diagonally, right?” Alicia held her finger over her rook, frowning at the board.

            Elyza shook her head, “No, love. That moves vertically or horizontally. The bishop moves diagonally.” The blonde had adopted using the term of endearment because every single time she used it, Alicia blushed in the most adorable way. Elyza couldn’t get enough of the shy smile and the flush that crept over her cheeks every time she said it.

            Alicia grumbled and frowned deeper before hovering her hand over the rook and moving it to one of her pawns, then back to the rook. It took nearly five whole minutes for Alicia to make her move, which only succeeded in leaving her knight vulnerable to Elyza’s bishop.

            “I hate you,” Alicia grumbled and slouched against the couch once Elyza had made her move and placed the white knight next to her collection of prisoners.

            Elyza laughed, “No you don’t.” They had moved indoors as the sun had progressed and the heat outside had gotten worse. The heavy storm clouds that Elyza had spotted earlier were beginning to collect closer to them and the seas were getting rougher. It seemed that they would have to end the game soon or their game pieces would be falling across the room eventually.

            “Tell me another joke,” Alicia stuck her tongue out of the corner of her mouth to wet her lips before biting down on her lower one in concentration. A while ago their conversation had turned to Elyza’s love life after Alicia had begrudgingly mentioned a little bit about Matt. She hadn’t explained much since it was still a sensitive subject and wanted to keep it locked down for now. She wasn’t completely over it.

            Elyza had explained how she was a lesbian and didn’t have the best luck with women. Alicia hadn’t batted an eyelash at the revelation of her sexuality and had even mentioned making out with a girl once as a dare at a friend’s sleepover to make Elyza feel more comfortable. After that, Elyza talked about a couple of the girls she’d been with on the long term. Then, after finishing school and going to medical school how she hadn’t had time for anything remotely related to a social life so her romantic affairs had gone down the drain.

            Then Elyza had explained how Wells used to dare her to say some of the worst pickup lines when they went out together. She had mentioned a couple of them and ever since, Alicia had asked her for more because she found them so funny.

            “Alright,” Elyza braced her elbows on the short white table before her and leaned forward over the board, “Hey, my mom thinks I’m straight, want to help me prove her wrong?”

            Alicia threw her head back with laughter and Elyza grinned, glad to get that sort of reaction out of the girl. “You actually said that to someone?”

            “Yeah, I was out with a couple of mates after a particularly hard day of finals testing and they dared me to go up to this girl in the bar and say it. It was a straight bar too, so I wasn’t even sure if the girl was gay. But yeah, I did say that to a girl.”

            “Did it work?”

            Elyza blushed, remembering the way the girl had scoffed, laughed and then told her she was waiting for a guy to show up. She hadn’t gotten laid that night but still, “Not particularly, but it did get a laugh out of you so I guess it was worth it.”

            Alicia rolled her eyes, “Are you _trying_ to smooth talk me?”

            “Well, I mean, is it working?” Elyza quirked an eyebrow and grabbed for the bottle of water she’d gotten earlier.

            Alicia rolled her eyes again and focused her full attention on the game at hand, choosing to ignore Elyza’s question all together. It was working, Elyza’s stupid jokes and lame attempts at flirting were obvious but cute. The blonde smiled easily even though there was still that glint of sadness in her eyes with every smile. But Alicia couldn’t blame her for that, she’d lost a lot so far and it was going to be hard to cope with that.

            Either way, the blonde was succeeding in making Alicia blush and her stomach flip and clench in ways only Matt had really be able to do. Alicia felt more comfortable and safe in Elyza’s presence than she ever had completely entangled with Matt, which made her feel guilty in a way. She and Matt hadn’t ended because they weren’t in love anymore, it had actually been the complete opposite. Matt had been ripped away from her unexpectedly and now here she was, trying to cope with things her mind could barely process.

            That didn’t stop her heart though, it didn’t stop her from feeling things she didn’t want to feel. It was scary and sudden and little too intense for the twenty four hours she’d known Elyza. Alicia didn’t know what to do with girls or how they worked but she did like the way Elyza’s eyes sparkled brightly. The way the black flecks were shown off when the sun hit them just right. Or even the splash of freckles over her cheeks after she’s been out in the sun for a little bit. The little side smirk used constantly made Alicia feel like melting and maybe kissing that damnable smile off of her face.

            Their game was ended soon after when Alicia’s knight was taken and her only defense left was her queen and a single rook against nearly half of Elyza’s stronger pieces. Elyza’s checkmate came with a swift distraction with her leftover bishop and going in for the kill with her knight.

            “I hate you,” Alicia repeated once she realized she’d lost again. For the fourth time.

            “Like I said before, no you don’t.” Elyza smirked and started putting the pieces into a velvet drawstring bag they had originated from. Alicia began helping just as a particularly large swell sent the chessboard nearly tumbling over the edge of the table. Several pawns went rolling under the couch and the chairs scraped back a couple of inches.

            “Woah,” Alicia squeaked, holding onto the table. “That wasn’t fun.”

            “Hey, guys,” Chris called out as he opened the door leading to the crew quarters, “we need to secure everything down. Nick says the storm isn’t looking too good.”

            Together and with the help of the rest of the Abigail inhabitants, they managed to tie down every loose item of furniture and food product. They tossed several of the outside chairs in with the mini boat underneath on the pool deck, which nearly sent Travis over the edge. It was pure luck that Elyza reached out and caught him before he could slip on the watery ground and go tumbling into the churning ocean.

            Once finished, Daniel called out that everyone should head inside and try to stay seated. The swells were getting bigger, nearly ten feet in height if Elyza was measuring properly and it was getting harder and harder to keep her footing on the outside decks. The sky was growing darker and darker until it felt like dusk in the middle of the day.

            Before going to her bedroom, Elyza checked on Aden, who was awake and squinting at his little manual. Ofelia was looking pale and sick, sitting up in her bed with her eyes closed.

            “Hey, kid. You’re going to go blind if you keep reading that in the dark,” Elyza braced herself in the doorway, trying not to feel lightheaded or nauseous as her surroundings moved with the ocean.

            “But Ofelia wants the lights off!” Aden whined in protest.

            “Then keep the lights off and put down the book. Try to sleep or something.” Elyza glanced at Ofelia as Aden grumbled under his breath about something or other but did as she said. “Are you feeling okay, Ofelia?”

            The older brunette nodded, “Yeah, I just feel a little nauseous.”

            “Well if you need anything just shout. You look a little pale.”

            Ofelia smiled slightly and held up her thumb in affirmation, “Thanks, doc, will do.” She responded sarcastically.

            Elyza nodded even though Ofelia had never opened her eyes and then turned her attention back to Aden, “Be quiet and don’t bother her. If she has to throw up, try to help her. If you start feeling sick, just shout too, okay?”

            Aden waved his arms around in an obvious motion to shoo so Elyza did. She stumbled passed Madison and Travis’ room where the door was closed. She braced her hands on either wall and slowly made her way back to her bedroom she shared with Alicia.

            The brunette was already in there, the overhead lights on her side of the room were on and she held a book in her lap. She was snuggled under the blankets and curled up against the pillows. Her head was tilted down and a pair of glasses were perched on her nose. To Elyza, she looked incredibly relaxed and adorable, even as the ship lurched up and down and side to side.

            “Don’t make fun of me, I only need them to read,” Alicia narrowed her eyes and tensed her shoulders, as if preparing for the ridicule.

            Elyza grinned and shook her head, “You’re cute.”

            Alicia wrinkled her nose and pushed her glasses up her face, but her expression and body relaxed considerably. The frames were large and kind of clunky but fit her face well enough to make her look like an adorable nerd. She huffed and turned back to her book, “Shut up.”

            Elyza collapsed down onto her bed and tried not to allow her stomach to heave up the small amount of her breakfast she’d had that morning. She threw her arm over her face and closed her eyes, trying to imagine the dip of the boat as the rocking of a cradle or something. But it only succeeded in making her feel worse.

            “You feeling okay over there?”

            “If I was any finer, I’d be China.”

            “What?” was the confused, chuckled response.

            “Nothing, sorry. I was a Pintrest nerd before the internet went out.”

            “Okay,” Alicia drew out the word uncertainty, “do you feel like you’re going to throw up?”

            Instead of providing a verbal response, Elyza lifted her hand and held her thumb and pointer finger less than an inch apart. Alicia rolled her eyes and set her book down. She was used to the feeling of the boat by now, but also knew that it has worse for some people rather than others.

            “Here,” she opened the middle drawer and pulled out a peppermint, “suck on this, it might help. If not, keep your eyes closed and try to fall asleep.”

            Elyza sat up and Alicia noticed the paleness in her face and the way her eyes seemed to try to focus on things that weren’t moving even though just about everything was. She unwrapped the candy and popped it into her mouth, tossing the plastic back into the drawer, “Where did you find that stuff?”

            “I don’t know, it was here when I got here. I read once that it’s good for motion sickness. Do you want to try to sleep?” Alicia sat up and set her feet on the rough carpet floor.

            Elyza shook her head and relaxed back into her pillow, trying to stop her head from spinning.

            “Then I have a question for you.”

            Elyza heard her shift and then the resounding click of her bedside lamp turning off. She made a soft humming noise to acknowledge the brunette next to her.

            “You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but you talked about your friend Wells a lot. I was wondering how you guys met. Tell me about him?”

            The blonde couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face at the memories she had of her best friend. “He was born in Australia like me. We were neighbors when we were kids but when his mum died when we were about thirteen, his dad went a little crazy. They needed a new start and Mr. Jaha had gotten a new job so they came to the States. I was allowed to go and see them on my own because my mom was close friends with Thelonious for the longest time so Wells and I were never really separated.

            “When I moved out and went to Uni, I visited him all the time. He went to school in California but we saw each other every break. I was with him when all of this happened. I was supposed to be on a plane back to Australia actually, Wells had just dropped me off at the airport when it all really went up in flames.”

            Elyza sighed deeply before pressing on, “But anyway, Wells was a sweet guy. He always put everyone else before himself. He tried to help everyone and I think that’s the only reason why I’m remotely nice. Without him I would have probably gotten into more schoolyard fights as a kid and my filter would be nonexistent. He was the calm to my storm, I guess. That didn’t mean he didn’t have a sense of humor or anything, he was just more reserved and precautious about things than I was. He liked to dare me to do things that he would never do just to see if I would.

            “Before I came out to my parents though, I think my mum wanted us to end up together. Which I would have been totally cool with if we hadn’t been such good mates and I wasn’t such a raging homosexual.” Elyza laughed at the end, remember the horror she’d felt when her mother had revealed her hopes and dreams for the two best mates.

            Alicia had settled down in bed and pulled her covers up to her chin after placing her glasses back in their case and tossing them into the drawer. The sky was so dark it felt like nighttime but the ocean was so turbulent there was no way she’d be able to fall asleep. Just as she was about to formulate a response the sound of rain thudding overhead and pounding against the rolling ocean outside drowned out any thoughts she could have been having.

            “Today would be a great lazy day if I didn’t feel like I was going to be sick,” Elyza’s voice was a little muddled by the candy she was sucking on, but it was still easy to understand her.

            “I agree.” Alicia closed her eyes, trying to relax enough to eventually fall asleep but it didn’t seem like it was happening. Instead she opened them again and watched Elyza, who was too focused internally to notice.

            Alicia watched the way her eyebrows furrowed and her nose curved upward. The way her lips pursed on their own and she noticed the small birthmark just above the upper one. Elyza looked like she was trying to relax. Her shoes had been kicked off while she spoke and one leg was spread out before her while the other one was crooked up with her knee in the air. One arm was slung just above her head and the other hung loosely against her side.

            She looked relaxed laying there and Alicia found herself mesmerized by the way her shirt hugged the soft curves of the body before her. She had never really looked at another girl in the way that she was looking at Elyza. She could see herself running her fingers over the exposed skin between her jeans and the slightly ridden up t-shirt. She could see herself _kissing_ Elyza and just as the thought hit her, her eyes trailed back up to gaze at those pink lips.

            They looked soft and definitely kissable, different from Matt’s for sure. Elyza’s were smaller and more palpable. Alicia could see herself getting addicted to those lips. With an inaudible sigh she rolled onto her back and closed her eyes, trying to will those scary thoughts away. She willed her heart to stop beating so fast and her cheeks to cool down at least a degree.

 _Breathe,_ she thought, _go to sleep. Stop thinking._

            To the sound of Elyza’s slowing and deepening breaths, she felt her own body relax and her heart sync with the blonde’s before oblivion took her.


	17. Chapter Seventeen: Infections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elyza recovers from the storm. Strand puts Elyza in an uncomfortable position. Daniel plans on doing something about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the update. Let me know what you think! ~TGF

**_Chapter Seventeen: Infections_ **

            The rain didn’t stop for another couple of hours. Elyza threw three different times, and after the second, she stayed in the bathroom curled in the corner between the bathtub and the wall. Her head was spinning and the constant motion of the boat didn’t help at all.

            Alicia tried several times to help her out, she even got her mom. But they didn’t have any seasickness medicine so there was nothing that could really be done. Elyza was left in her misery until the weather finally decided to let up.

            It happened gradually. The rain stopped first, then the clouds slowly dissipated until the rolling sea became eerily calm. The sun showed weakly through the high window in the bathroom and Elyza finally brought herself shakily to her feet.

            “Hey, you okay?” Alicia asked, leaning in the doorway and wrapped in one of her plaid button ups.

            Elyza smiled weakly and felt the blood rush to her head. She knew she should probably eat, but her stomach still felt like it would betray her at any minute. “Fucking fantastic, Licia. Thanks for asking.”

            The brunette rolled her eyes and stepped forward, taking ahold of Elyza’s arm. When the blonde didn’t pull away she slipped her free arm around Elyza’s waist and helped walk them down the hallway together. “I’ve got you.”

            “I can walk, Alicia,” Elyza grumbled, but didn’t pull away.

            “Shut up. You wouldn’t even let me hold your hair back earlier and you’re sick. Accept some help or I’ll hit you.” Alicia huffed gruffly and squeezed Elyza’s hip in warning.

            Elyza was unceremoniously dropped onto her bed with a painful grunt as her insides spasmed. The pitifully crawled under the blankets and closed her eyes. “I feel like shit.”

            “Oh really? High and mighty Elyza Lex feels like shit? What happened to the tough girl act?”

            “Mockery is not the product of a strong mind, Clark.” Elyza’s voice was muffled under her blankets and only the top of her blonde head could be seen under the comforter.

            Alicia laughed, “Do you want to go up on deck? It could help.”

            The negative noise that Elyza made was probably the most adorable thing that Alicia had ever heard. It was a mixture between a whine and a groan that made butterflies swirl in Alicia’s stomach. A basic, instinctive part of her wanted to climb into bed and hold Elyza to try to make her feel better, it hurt her to see the girl in pain. But that didn’t seem appropriate at all.

            “Fine, I’ll wake you up for dinner.”

            Alicia wasn’t given a response, so she exited their shared room and went up on deck.

~   ~   ~

            Elyza didn’t realize she had fallen asleep until she was waking up alone in a dark room. The ocean was still moving below her, but at a much more manageable rate for her brain. Her stomach didn’t feel like it was trying to destroy itself and her head only hurt a little bit. It was much better than before.

            She rolled out of bed and found her old clothes folded neatly on the desk across the room. Her fatigues were cleaned and the tank top was bleach white as it had been when she’d first put it on. The clothing wasn’t what interested her though, it was the shiny pocket knife sitting on top. It was the rainbow one she’d found all those weeks ago.

            Elyza quickly changed into the pants, finding them more comfortable than the ones she was borrowing from Alicia. She slipped the knife into the pocket closest to her left hand and straightened her shirt before going in search of food.

            She checked on Aden first, but found that he was asleep. Disturbing him wouldn’t be smart, he needed the rest to get over his cold. There was a tray with an empty bowl lying next to him, she assumed he had already eaten and left without saying anything.

            When she ascended the stairs, she was greeted by Nick.

            “The dead awakens!” he called from the living area where he had his feet propped up on the coffee table. Ofelia sat next to him and smiled at his antics.

            “I see you found your clothes.” She acknowledged.

            Elyza brushed her hand over her pants. “Yes, did you wash them?”

            Ofelia nodded, “Yeah.”

            “Thanks, I appreciate it.” Elyza sat on one of the cushions, facing towards the lower deck and the ocean beyond. She pulled her feet up to her chest and rested her chin on top of her knees.

            Ofelia shrugged and pulled the blanket she was curled up in closer around her body. As Elyza got a closer look, she noticed the pale sheen of sweat on Ofelia’s forehead and the heaviness in her face. Her eyebrows were creased together in tension or pain, she wasn’t sure which.

            “You feeling okay, Ofelia?”

            “I’ve asked her that already,” Nick interjected, “she says she’s fine. But she’s running a fever.” He reached a hand over as if to touch her forehead, but the woman slapped him away indignantly.

            “I’m fine,” her eyes blazed and she shifted away from him.

            But Elyza wasn’t so sure, a sinking feeling was developing in her stomach. Some instinct told her there was something more wrong than just Ofelia being sick.

            Instead of listening to the older girl’s protests, Elyza got to her feet and leaned over. She pressed her hand to Ofelia’s forehead. “Holy shit, you’re burning up. What hurts?”

            “What’s going on?” Daniel had seen Elyza through the window of the walkway outside and investigated her sudden interest in his daughter.

            “Nothing, pa—”         

            “Ofelia,” Elyza interrupted, “it’s something. You’re burning up. Do you feel sick?”

            “No,” Ofelia glanced to her father nervously, “but my shoulder hurts.”

            Elyza bit her lip and her frown deepened, “You were shot, correct? I should probably take a look at it.” she feared that the wound would be infected. There wasn’t any antibiotics on board and she didn’t want to think of the implications of that.

            “I should look at it,” Daniel interjected, moving Elyza’s hand away from his daughter and stepping nearly in between them. There was something about the man that didn’t sit well with Elyza. It wasn’t his trustworthiness, but a deadly seriousness that seemed to echo in every word he spoke. As if he had a reason for everything he side. It made Elyza pull back and step away.

            She crossed her arms over her chest, “Fine, but I want to watch. Two pairs of eyes are better than one.”

            Daniel nodded and turned to Nick, “Would you mind?”

            Nick’s eyebrows rose, but besides that, he made no move to leave, “Where the hell do you want me to go?”

            “Anywhere but here. You’re not seeing my daughter shirtless.”

            “Papa—”

            “No, its fine.” Nick grumbled and got to his feet, “I’ll just go hop into the ocean. There’s no other place to go.”

            “Good luck with that, Nick. Don’t get eaten by anything. Undead or living.”

            “Shut up, Lex,” Nick stuck his tongue out childishly and headed towards the deck, taking the stairs down to the swimming deck until his head disappeared.

            Ofelia didn’t take off her shirt. Instead, she maneuvered her arm from her shirt sleeve with the assistance of her father. Daniel carefully unwrapped the gunshot wound on his daughter’s shoulder. Elyza perched on the table so she could have a clear view of the action.

            Both Elyza and Daniel sucked in sharp breaths when they saw the injury.

            “Ofelia,” Daniel’s voice was gruff with urgency and disbelief, “why didn’t you tell me about this? It must hurt.”

            The wound was turning a disgusting green color and the skin around it was slowly dying. A white puss was beginning to secrete from it and it was burning hot when Elyza hovered her hand over it. She glanced over it with a critical eye. Her initial thoughts were that they were screwed, they needed to clean the wound out and then get antibiotics to completely clean out Ofelia’s system.

            “It hurts, but I didn’t want to worry anyone. We have enough to worry about as it is.”

            Elyza rested her left hand on the older girl’s uninjured shoulder. “It doesn’t matter what we have to worry about, Ofelia. We need to keep each other safe and telling us when you’re not feeling well is one of these things. I’m going to have to clean the wound…and by the looks of it, it won’t feel well.”

            The two Salazars’ shared a look that spoke more than Elyza could really catch onto before Ofelia turned to her. Her jaw tightened noticeably and she straightened her back, “Fine, whatever you have to do.”

            “Okay,” Elyza’s heart beat harder in her chest. “Just let me look at it closer?”

            Daniel moved away, but stood so stiffly that the tension seemed to roll off of him in waves. Elyza pressed her finger lightly to the farthest reaches of the redness on the brunette’s shoulder. She carefully gauged Ofelia’s reaction, when there wasn’t much of one, she slowly pressed closer and closer. When Ofelia pulled away and hissed, she stopped.

            “Alright,” her heart was beating fast in her chest. It didn’t seem like there was going to be a good outcome to this situation, no matter how she looked at it. It all came down to antibiotics and they didn’t have any. “We should have a group meeting and figure out what to do about this. I’m going to get Strand, okay?”

            Father and daughter nodded.

            “Daniel, if you could grab a wet towel and try to get as much puss out of the wound as possible that would really help.” Elyza said as she stood and headed towards the deck. She turned around as she went, “Don’t tell the others yet, I don’t want a panic.”

            Before she could receive a response, she was out of the door and heading down to the swimming deck. Nick sat at the edge, his feet dangling in the water. The khaki pants he was wearing were rolled up and if Elyza didn’t know any better, she would think he was a rich kid on a vacation.

            “Hey, any idea where Strand is?”

            “Where is he ever?” Nick asked rhetorically, “Is Ofelia alright?”

            Elyza bit her lip, hesitating. Nick was Strand’s right hand man, he had a right to know what was going on. As did everyone else, but Elyza didn’t want to go about pissing the captain of the boat off. She was still new and so was Aden, she didn’t know what would happen if she didn’t follow Strand’s rules.

            “Her shoulder is infected and it doesn’t look good.”

            “What doesn’t look good?” came a new voice from above. Elyza turned quickly and noticed Alicia kneeling on the lounge couch.

            “Nick’s hair,” Elyza blurted out without thinking, the only thing she could do was say the first thing that came to mind.

            “Hey!” Nick protested and stood, shoving Elyza’s shoulder indignantly. “My hair looks fine.”

            Elyza laughed, momentarily relaxing with the easy banter, “Yeah, if you were a cave man that didn’t know what a shower was. You literally have dreads and you aren’t even trying.”

            “She’s right, Nick. You should probably take a shower.” Alicia agreed, descending the stairs. Elyza’s eyes were drawn to her legs, all tanned and exposed. She couldn’t help the impure thoughts that ran through her head before shaking them away and focusing at the problem at hand.

            “Yeah,” Elyza slapped Nick on the shoulder. “But you can do that after we talk to Strand.”

            “What about?” Alicia asked, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning casually against the stern wall.

            Nick shrugged casually, “Nothing important.”

            “Yeah, when I come back down we’ll talk.” Elyza smiled and saluted the brunette with a wink. Then she ascended the stairs and then headed to the upper deck, Nick trailing behind.

~   ~   ~

            “Fix her,” was Strand’s simple response to their problem.

            “It’s not that simple,” Elyza responded incredulously. She was pacing back and forth, finally allowing her discontent to show. She wasn’t as comfortable with Strand and Nick as she was with Alicia, but they were the powers that be on this ship.

            Strand was seated in his captain’s chair as before and Nick stood by the stairs leading down into the main living space. Elyza had explained what was happening with Ofelia, but Strand didn’t seem all that concerned. Actually, his eyes were still trained on one of the maps he had spread out before him. A notebook sat next to it with a pen marking the page it had been opened on.   

            “But it is. You’re the doctor,” he stated, finally turning to face her, “and this is your chance to prove your worth.”

            Elyza nearly growled in frustration. She had been sitting there talking to what felt like a brick wall for the last ten minutes. Still nothing. He didn’t seem to understand that she wasn’t a miracle worker. No matter how much medical training she had, they wouldn’t be able to save Ofelia if they waited too long to get antibiotics. If they could even find it.

            “Fine,” she huffed, the annoyance and anger obvious in her voice. “I’ll see what I can flush out. But if the infection has gotten into her blood, we’re screwed.”

            “Strand, I really think we should consider stop—”

            “No,” Strand blurted, his voice laced with a desperation Elyza didn’t understand. “We can’t stop, not now.”

            Elyza’s brain momentarily short circuited at the change in subject. Her curiosity overcame her, even though she was almost certain Strand wouldn’t like it. “What’s so urgent, Strand?”

            The man turned to look at her and Elyza felt like she was being analyzed. As if Strand’s eyes were boring into her very soul and he was searching for something. They met each other’s eyes in a stare off of wills where Elyza insisted stubbornly that he needed to tell them.

            “Fine,” Strand broke eye contact and his jaw flexed noticeably. “I have a place lined up for us. In Mexico. The difficulty will be getting all of us in. There was only enough money for two people. Now I have…nine other people.”

            “What’s in Mexico, Strand?”

            “Safety for you if we get there. Now, I’ve taken more risks than I’ve had to for all of you. You would be dead if it wasn’t for me. You and your brother.” Strand turned to Nick, “Your family would be too. This is my ship and both of you seem to understand that…to a point. But right now, everyone is extra sensitive to their own needs and I need peace.”

            “So you want us to keep this quiet for you? Ofelia could _die,_ Strand.” Elyza insisted, throwing her hands up in the air. She wanted to hit something, preferable Victor Strand’s face so he could realize how heartless he was being.

            The man shrugged his Nordstrom clad shoulders. “Eight out of nine is better than nothing. I think I’ve done enough good if I succeed at that.”

            Elyza scoffed and turned to Nick, whose eyebrows were raised in disbelief. It was a subtle expression but enough to make Elyza believe that he didn’t agree with what Strand was saying. She faced Victor again and narrowed her eyes, “Fine, but what do you want me to say when Ofelia is screaming her head of when I try to dig out the infection? What do you want to do then? Everyone’s going to find out.”

            “Figure it out. Don’t fix her arm. I don’t care at this point. We’re about two days away from our rendezvous point. She can get some help if she survives until then.”

            There was no way Elyza was going to convince him, she realized after that statement. Strand was a cold hearted sociopath who didn’t care about anyone but himself. Elyza was just now starting to realize this and it really pissed her off.

            Instead of lingering any longer, for fear she’d do something stupid, she stormed past Nick and down the stairs. She nearly barreled into Alicia when she rounded the staircase and into the living room.

            “Shit, sorry,” Elyza huffed and grabbed onto Alicia’s hips to keep them from falling over.

            The blonde untangled them quickly and ran a hand through her hair. Alicia chuckled at her and shrugged, “What’s got you all moody there, Lex?”

            “Nothing,” Elyza sighed, “your ship captain is just a total asshole, is all.”

            “Oh, I know. He didn’t want to risk saving you guys.”

            Elyza shrugged, “He’s a pain in the ass. I can’t stand him.”

            Alicia frowned and stepped forward, the concern etched into every line of her face. Her hand rested on Elyza’s arm, “What did he say to you?”

            She wanted to tell her. She really did. But there was a part of her that knew it would cause drama. There would be anarchy and Elyza understood Strand’s desire to keep the peace. If this group couldn’t keep their heads about them, what chance did they stand in the new world that waited on shore?

            Maybe that was what Strand saw in her. She understood the hard decisions that came with being a leader of a group, at least in some way. No matter how much she disagreed with what Strand was saying, it didn’t stop her from doing it anyway.

            “Nothing important, I guess.” She ran her hands over her eyes.

            “Well, if you want to talk about it, I’m here.” Alicia squeezed her arm. “Have you eaten anything?”

            Elyza chuckled at her. “You have a really good maternal instinct, you know.”

            “Excuse me, I’m seventeen. And you’re really good at not taking care of yourself. I need something to do on this damn boat.” Alicia provided her signature eye roll.

            “I know _plenty_ of things we could do to entertain ourselves,” Elyza wiggled her eyebrows teasingly.

            Alicia rolled her eyes again and shoved Elyza with her shoulder, “Oh please, come on, let’s get some food in you, Lex.”

~   ~   ~

            “What do you mean we can’t do anything?” Daniel hissed. They were in the corridor just outside of the sick room Aden and Ofelia were resting in. Aden had woken up a little while ago and wanted to go up on deck so it was only Ofelia in there now. But after getting her settled, Daniel had cornered Elyza outside to ask what they could do.

            Elyza sucked in a breath, “We need antibiotics and if you haven’t noticed, we don’t have any. I could try to flush out some of the infection, but that isn’t going to help any if it’s in her blood.”

            “So what? You’re going to let her die?” Daniel leaned in close enough that Elyza could feel his breath on her skin. His eyes blazed with a fury that set her on edge and she eased away just a little bit. She wasn’t particularly afraid of this man, but that didn’t mean she wanted to get into a physical fight with him.

            Elyza shook her head, “Convince Strand to go ashore. I tried. It didn’t work. I don’t think Ofelia will be able to survive the surgery if we try to go any deeper to get out infection.”

            Daniel glared at her, clearly trying to convince her to back down and say something he actually wanted to hear. But there wasn’t anything Elyza could say, so she stared back, stubborn enough not to let him try to intimidate her.

            “Fine,” Daniel conceded, his voice barely above a whisper. “I will convince him. But don’t get angry with me if it doesn’t go the way you want it to. I won’t forget this, Elyza.”

            With that final, blood freezing threat he turned and walked back down the hallway.


	18. Conviction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A mutiny occurs. The inhabitants of the Abigail are forced to form a hasty plan to go ashore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! I seriously took forever to write this chapter, I know and I'm sorry for the late update. But I hope you enjoy! Just let me know what you think! Thanks! ~TGF

**_Chapter Eighteen: Conviction_ **

            The very next morning Elyza found herself on the lower swimming deck with Alicia. A conversation had arisen between them the night before where she had explained that she knew a lot of self-defense because of her father. Alicia insisted on being taught something and together they had woken up before the sun.

            They had been at it for hours already and Elyza had discovered that Alicia was a quick study. Both of them were sweating profusely and the sun was high in the sky.

            “Come on, Alicia, attack me.” Elyza egged, quirking her finger at the brunette with a smirk. She was trying to teach the brunette how to break a simple grip, but the brunette was a little hesitant to be on the dealing end of the fight.

            Alicia was okay with receiving the blows and providing the proper defensive maneuvers. But, whenever Elyza was throwing her to the ground, she knew she would have bruises. Her butt was already throbbing from the amount of times she had been tossed on it and there were bruises forming over her ribs and on her shins where Elyza had used her weaknesses against her.

            Instead of provided a response, Alicia narrowed her eyes and brought her hands up to her face in the standard fighting position. She steeled herself for the pain she knew she was about to be dealt and hesitated.

            “Come on, Princess.” Elyza provoked, “Don’t be afraid.”

            Alicia hated when the blonde called her that because butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She allowed her irritation to fuel her and lunged forward.

            Her hand grasped at Elyza’s front one, twisting it back so she couldn’t use it. She spun the blonde around and wrapped her arms around her middle. Alicia kept her arms taunt and squeezed Elyza’s arms against her body, effectively pinning them together.

            Elyza let out a breath Alicia could feel in her chest and along her arms. Her next words were Alicia’s only warning. “Alright, pay attention, Princess.”

The blonde twisted her body and brought her leg up, slamming her heel down on Alicia’s toes. They were clad in a pair of dark converse that really didn’t cushion the blow much. The pain caused the brunette to grit her teeth but she didn’t loosen her hold. Next, Elyza used the minimal amount of space between their bodies to elbow Alicia below the ribs, then grind the sharp bone in further.

            She tried. She really did, to maintain her hold. But the pain grew so sharp that tears pricked at her eyes before she finally let go. Alicia doubled over in pain and sucked in a deep breath. “Fuck that hurt.”

            ‘That’s the point,” Elyza turned around and straightened her shirt. She had borrowed one of Alicia’s again and it hugged at her chest a little too much for her liking. It was a red short-sleeve t-shirt with a breast pocket. She had on her army fatigues, finding them much easier to maneuver in than whatever jeans Alicia was wearing.

            As she recovered and the sharp pain dulled to a throb, Alicia straightened herself. “I think you just wanted to hit me.”

            Elyza laughed outright and grabbed for the water bottle lying on the ground. “Sure, let’s take a break.”

            “Gladly,” Alicia swiped her damp hair from her forehead and plopped down on the ground. She spread herself out into a star and basked in the sun. She was dressed in a pair of yoga pants and a white t-shirt that hung loosely on her body. How she had managed to maintain such a fashion conscious closet in a post-apocalyptic world, Elyza would never know. But, she looked good.

            The blonde pulled her shoes off and then her socks before settling on the edge of the deck and dangling her feet in the water. They were moving, but it was slow enough that it wasn’t dangerous. The water was chilly and cooled Elyza’s skin quickly.

            After a moment, Alicia spoke up from her position on the ground, “So I have a question.”

            “So what’s the question?” Elyza asked mimicking her tone before taking a sip from her water bottle and passing it to Alicia, who took it gratefully. They weren’t facing each other, Elyza’s back to Alicia, who was looking up at the blue sky and the picturesque clouds. Neither of them wanted to waste precious fresh water, so they opted to share a water bottle and drink from it sparingly.

            “What’s Australia like?”

            Elyza glanced over her shoulder, fully expecting the question to be less mundane than that. “What’s Australia like?”

            “I asked you first.” Alicia sat up to drink and waited for a response.

            “You know how they always used to say it’s backwards?” Elyza rolled her eyes at Alicia’s sarcasm and wiggled her toes in the water, enjoying the cool rush.

            Alicia nodded and hummed an affirmative noise.

            “It really isn’t. My life was one of those carefree experiences most people wish they could have. I didn’t have to grow up too young and I didn’t need to worry about anything except myself and school. It was practically paradise, I would give anything to go back to when it felt like it was.” Elyza said, her eyes trained on the horizon as she spoke. The ocean glittered in the light and caused her to squint as she got lost in her own thoughts.

            “What changed?” Alicia asked, genuinely curious to learn more about the mysterious woman before her.  She didn’t know what it was that drew her to Elyza, but learning more about the woman seemed the best way to figure it out.

            Elyza sucked in her breath, thinking back to when she was fifteen. “My dad died. He was at work and got into an accident.”

            “I’m sorry,” Alicia surged forward and placed a hand on Elyza’s forearm. “If it makes you feel any better, I know how you feel.”

            “Really? You lost your dad too?”

            “Yeah,” Alicia tried to smile, but it felt like a grimace, “he died in a car accident.”

            “I’m sorry.”

            “Don’t be,” Alicia shrugged and twisted her body so she was sitting next to Elyza. She slipped her shoes off and mimicked the older girl’s position, placing her feet in the water. She leaned back on her hands to soak up the most sun. Since being out on the ocean, she’d gained a reasonable tan and enjoyed the open feeling of the water. “He was…I don’t know, very tired a lot. I didn’t get to see him much.”

            “Yeah,” Elyza bumped her shoulder against Alicia’s. “I got to have a lot of time with my dad. My mom on the other hand, we’ve never really seen eye to eye.”

            Alicia huffed and threw her head back, closing her eyes. Elyza watched her, entranced by the way shadows danced along her jaw and she wet her lips subconsciously. They looked soft and incredibly kissable. “So tell me more about Elyza Lex.”

            “Well,” Elyza stared up at the sky, thinking. There wasn’t much to her. She was a fairly simple person, in her opinion. “I really like nature and my favorite food is Chinese. Not like, real Chinese food, but the greasy takeout you get at University because you can’t afford anything else.”

            “That’s gross. My mom was always so busy when I was younger, we ate take out a lot. I’m not too into that anymore. I much prefer cooking for myself,” Alicia stated.

            “What do you like to cook?”

            “I’ll pretty much try everything. After my dad died, my mom got distracted with Nick so I became kind of…invisible. I would come home and make myself dinners. Mostly I’d go online and find something that looked good. It was really the only time I could contribute, I guess.”

            “Wow,” Elyza breathed before smirking and turning to Alicia, “that is depressing.”

            Alicia turned to her and opened her mouth, shocked. “You, my friend, are an ass.”

            Elyza laughed, a bubbling warm sound that filled Alicia’s ears and heart with affection and happiness. She couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face, even if the joke had been aimed at her.

            “At least I’m a hot ass.”

            Alicia scoffed and leaned forward, splashing chilly seawater at the blonde in reciprocation. “Then cool the hell down, Ms. Ego.”

            The blonde froze before shoving Alicia’s shoulder lightly and brushing the salty water out of her face. She tried to blink away the sting of the water but ended up resorting to using her t-shirt instead. “I’m gonna get a cold now, thanks.”

            “Oh, you are not,” Alicia scoffed and giggled. “Don’t be so damn dramatic.”

            “Honestly,” Elyza ran a hand through her dampened hair and feigned a sneeze, “I already feel it coming.” She sniffled and rubbed at her nose, shivering.

            “You’re such a drama queen,” Alicia shoved Elyza’s shoulder and laughed harder as she noticed something green in the blonde tresses. “Wait, wait, wait. Hold still.”

            The brunette reached out, brushing Elyza’s hair from her cheek, her fingertips brushing along the blonde’s jaw.  A shiver ran down Elyza’s spine at the touch and she lightly pushed Alicia away. “What are you doing?”

            “Sit still,” Alicia smacked Elyza’s hand away and scooted closer until they were pressed side by side.

            Elyza’s heart beat harder in her chest and a flush of heat and adrenaline spread to her toes. The girl was close, closer to her than she ever had been and Elyza couldn’t really understand the feelings that arose being so near. As they turned to face each other she noticed Alicia’s eyes were bright green, something she hadn’t paid much attention to before.

            Alicia brushed the golden blonde hair away from the fair skin of Elyza’s cheeks. This close, she could see the light, barely-there freckles peppering her cheeks and the birthmark just above her lips. Those lips that were normally quirked upward in a smirk were now parted and dry.

            She leaned closer, forgetting about the small speck of seaweed that had tangled in Elyza’s hair and focusing her attention on pink lips. Alicia didn’t know what she was doing, it was on impulse that she leaned closer and when Elyza did the same, their noses brushed. She slid her hand downward, cupping the back of Elyza’s neck. Her breaths came in short gasps as her heart felt like it was about to beat its way out of her chest.

            A loud pop echoed over the water and assaulted the two girl’s ears before the sound of shattering glass accompanied it. They jumped apart, Elyza grasping Alicia’s wrist that had been in her hair. At first, neither of them recognized the sound and only stared at each other incomprehensibly.

            Then it was like warning bells going off and Elyza scrambled to her feet, pulling Alicia with her. _Gunshot_ , she thought before rushing up the steps to the lower deck, Alicia hot on her heels.

            The two ran into Madison, who stared at the two of them, blue eyes wide, “Where did that come from?”

            “Upstairs,” Alicia pointed upward, where the wheel house was. The window had been blown out and glass was scattered all across the lower deck.

            Together, the three rushed up the steps to the upper deck and then down into the wheel house through the back. Elyza was in the front with Madison then Alicia trailing behind. She stumbled to a halt when she reached the aft entrance to the wheel house.

            Daniel stood there, his hands wrapped loosely around the handle of a gun and his fingers steadily hovering over the trigger. Elyza stopped, bracing her hands on either side of the door as Daniel jerked and turned the barrel of the gun on her.

            “Woah, woah, Daniel. What are you doing?” She asked, straightening up to protect the two women behind her. She kept her hands on either side of the wall.

            “Stay back, Elyza,” His voice was calm, his expression emotionless. “This doesn’t involve you, I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

            Elyza felt her skin prickle as she stared into the dark abyss of the gun’s barrel. He could pull that trigger in a second and her brain would be blown to bits. It was trained right on her too, steady and unwavering.

            “Elyza,” Madison growled, pushing at her back to try to move her out of the way, but the girl wouldn’t budge. Across the room, Travis, Chris and Nick were piling up the stairs. Aden and Ofelia were down in bed resting; they’d probably been awoken but were unable to get upstairs. “Get out of the way.”

            “No,” Elyza hissed back, turning her head slightly to reference the older woman.

            Strand stood by his Captain’s chair. The front window had been blown out and he looked pale, his hands up and breathing erratic. Honestly he looked like he had just been shot at, the whites of his eyes obvious even from the distance Elyza stood.

            “Daniel, this is crazy,” Travis exclaimed, “Put the gun down!”

            “No,” Daniel said, his words coming out in a growl as he turned and trained the gun back on Strand. “Not until he promises to find help for my daughter.”

            “I saved you!” Strand fired back, “If we can make it to my destination, then we can get help for Ofelia! I have contacts.”

            “She doesn’t have time,” Daniel raised his voice and shook the gun. He was unable to keep a tight hold on his emotions at this time. He had seen his daughter and how sick she was getting. She would die if he didn’t do something that proved how serious he was. “I will shoot you and take over this ship, Strand.”

            Elyza stood back and she could feel Alicia and her mother pressing against her back, both of them trying to see what was going on. Even though she was trying to focus on the situation—Daniel was waving a gun around—she was too busy getting distracted by the feeling of Alicia balling the back of her shirt into a fist. Her breath was hot on her neck as she strained to look over her shoulder.

            “Back up,” She whispered, nudging the brunette backwards, “If he shoots someone I sure as hell don’t want it to be you.”

            “Daniel,” Alicia called, completely ignoring Elyza’s warning and pressing her body harder against her. “Put down the gun, what’s going on?”

            “Fine,” Strand’s voice was strong and unwavering. “Let me search for a good landing spot. We can do a supply run and hopefully find some antibiotics.”

            Daniel and Strand stared at each other, the weapon between them a dangerous element that could cause chaos in seconds. It was too cramped for this, Elyza realized, there were too many people in too small of a space. They needed to separate before the situation heated up too much and someone was killed.

            No matter how much she didn’t like Strand and despised some of his decisions, they didn’t need to lose anyone. She didn’t exactly know these people’s stories but they were tight knit and some of them were blood family. Killing each other wasn’t going to create a stronger bond between them.

            “We all need to take a step back.” Elyza said.

            “I completely agree,” Strand added. “Put down the gun, Daniel. We can look at the maps together and come up with a plan. I can have us on land within the day.”

            Before Daniel could think of a response, Nick lunged through Chris and Travis. He tackled Daniel against the back wall and knocked the gun from his grasp. It clattered onto the carpet and Elyza stepped forward, leaning down and picking up the weapon before anyone had a chance to think of going for it.

            The altercation was over as quickly as it had started. Daniel was left weaponless and everyone else was left dumbstruck. Elyza stepped to the side, turning on the handgun’s safety and shoving it into the back of her pants. She glanced to Alicia, who was staring at her with confused, wide doe eyes that Elyza was certain she could drown in if she didn’t look away.

            “Give me a map, Victor,” Elyza’s gaze met his and she stepped forward, holding her hand out.

            “Hold on,” Madison said, finally able to make her presence known, “What’s going on? What’s wrong with Ofelia?”

            “Her bullet wound is infected,” Nick spoke up, “Strand didn’t want anyone to know about it.”

            “So? You just listened to him?”

            “Mom—”

            “No, that’s not how this works. Strand isn’t in charge.”

            “This is my boat. I saved your lives, I had a plan and chose to take you with me. I am in charge.” Strand snapped, though from his current situation he was not so convincing in his disheveled clothing.

            “This is not a dictatorship,” Travis argued. “We make decisions as a group, that’s how we survive.”

            “That is not how this works. I had a plan and you and your families ruined it.”

            After that, Elyza couldn’t keep track of who was saying what. Nick and Madison began arguing. Strand, Daniel and Travis starting talking at each other rather than to each other. Chris stood in the background, staring at everyone with a withered bordering on hostile stare and Alicia rolled her eyes in the corner. The brunette didn’t seem all that concerned with the arguments, almost as if she was accustomed to them and not being involved in them.

            “Shut up!” Elyza shouted, waving her hands in the air to grab everyone’s attention. “Just shut up, all of you. This isn’t the time to talk, this is the time to take action. Focusing on Ofelia is the key right now. She’s sick and it’s a race to make sure the infection doesn’t get into her blood before we find medication. So everyone just shut the hell up and start making a damn plan! We need to be on land within the next twenty-four hours.”

~   ~   ~

            Elyza’s words seemed to spur everyone into motion. There was a flurry of movement and action on the yacht. The inhabitants ignored their problems and disagreements with each other and focused on developing a plan once they found somewhere to land.

            Madison took Alicia down to the galley to start making supply bags for the people who would be going on land. Travis and Nick went down to inspect the life boat and prepare it for immediate departure. Chris went somewhere quiet to sulk and Daniel headed downstairs to talk to his daughter.

            That left Strand and Elyza to sit about setting up a destination and beginning navigation to desired destination. They sat in the wheel house for over an hour hunched over half a dozen maps and bickering over different location. Strand wanted to go to the nearest place, clearly in a rush to get this over with. But Elyza was more focused on picking out the best candidates that would be bigger towns, but still finding a way to maintain a low profile.

            “We’re going to be easily spotted there,” Strand pointed out as Elyza suggested another location. It was south, near the US/Mexico border and less than a day away.

            Elyza nearly slammed her hands down on the table in frustration. Victor Strand had managed to find a problem with every single suggestion she had made so far. “We’re on a fucking huge yacht, Strand! If there are any living there, they’re going to see us from miles away. It doesn’t matter.”

            “Hey, what’s with the shouting?” Aden asked, coming up the stairs. He had been feeling better and decided allowing himself to be around Ofelia while her immune system was so weak was a bad idea. Now he was wandering, trying to help out in any way he could.

            “Nothing, Aden.” Elyza turned and watched the boy. He was limping still, but it was less pronounced than before. It had only been a couple of days since his injury, but right now it was looking really good. “How are you feeling?”

            “I’m fine, Elyza,” Aden gave her a pointed look. “Do we have a location yet? Daniel wanted me to ask.”

            “No—” Strand began.

            “Yes, we do,” Elyza held her hand up towards Strand, who was twisted to look at Aden but still leaning over the maps before him. “There’s a naval base in Point Loma. It should have everything we need.”

            “It should _also_ be full of the dead,” Strand pointed out. “The likelihood of getting in or out of there without one of us dying is slim to none.”

            “What do you suggest, then?” Elyza bit back, turning to face the much taller man. She titled her head up and straightened her back, just about ready to punch him in the face if he didn’t help provide a solution. “San Diego is a popular place. There’s going to be dead everywhere we go. There’s a risk in everything.”

            Strand shook his head and rubbed his eyes.

            “Exactly. The naval base is our best bet and it’s in the middle of nowhere.”

            Aden frowned, “San Diego has several naval bases. Point Loma is the most secluded. It’s our best bet.”

            Elyza wanted to gloat right in Strand’s face, she could have, but it would have been too immature to do so. Aden was just agreeing with her and being an asshole wasn’t the best way to get on Strand’s good side.

            “Then it’s settled. Point Loma it is.” Elyza gestured to Aden. “Why don’t you go tell the others?”

            Strand threw his hands in the air, “Fine. But if anyone dies, I’m blaming you.”

~   ~   ~

            The decision to head to Point Loma was an easy one. The other adults agreed that there wasn’t any way to be certain about anything so they went with the best choice. Strand and Elyza took the next couple of hours to navigate to their chosen location. It would take them nearly ten hours to get to Point Loma while maintaining a slow speed to conserve gas.

            Once they were securely on track, the next big decision was choosing who was going.

            The main living space was crowded with people once dinner rolled around. Madison and Alicia had made a dinner of fish, canned corn and some sort of dried fruit mix. They had an abundance of fish, but other nonperishable items were growing scarce. No matter what, they would have had to make a supply run sooner rather than later anyway.

            Madison and Travis were discussing in quiet, harsh voices across the room. Their heads were close together and Madison’s arms were waving around a little erratically. Elyza caught the end of Madison’s next words.

            “—kids should go.”

            “They’re adults now, they have to make their own decisions,” Travis hissed back.

            “No, they’re still children.  Alicia and Nick can’t go and that’s that.”

            “But—”

            “What if one of them gets bitten, Travis? Like Liza? Do you want to risk that?”

            “That’s not fair.”

            Elyza watched them for a couple more seconds before turning to the rest of the table. “We need to make a decision on who all is going on this run.  We need people with experience.”

            Strand swallowed his next bite before setting down his fork and dabbing at his mouth with a cloth napkin. For a man at the end of the world, he was quite proper and well groomed. “I agree. Nick and I have had a short discussion and we think he and Elyza should lead this expedition. Elyza has experience and she’s well trained. Nick knows the area better than she does and can help navigate.”

            “Nick,” Madison spoke up, turning to her son. “Did you agree to this?”

            Nick rolled his eyes, clearly expecting this line of question from his mother. “Yes, mom. I’m an adult and a survivor. This is something we have to do to make sure all of us survive.”

            “What? Nick, you don’t have to do this. The adults can—”

            “Mom! I am an adult, I can do this just as well as you or Daniel or Travis can. This world is live or die. There is no getting by. You can’t shelter me anymore. I’m going and that’s the end of it.”

            “I agree,” Travis spoke up, though his eyes drifted to his girlfriend before his jaw locked firmly into place. “Elyza, Nick, I plan on going with you.”

            Alicia was seated next to Nick, near where Chris was still sulking. The boy was hunched over and playing with the food on his plate. Elyza was almost certain he hadn’t eaten anything on his plate yet.

            “I want to go,” was probably the first words Elyza had heard out of the young boy’s mouth. A shiver ran down her spine as Chris looked up. Their eyes met and Elyza saw something in his eyes that made her uneasy. It was almost like what she saw when she looked at Daniel. A deadness that was merciless and unpredictable.

            Madison and Travis stared at each other, having a silent battle of wills across the table. Travis wasn’t too keen on his son knowingly putting himself into danger, but if he was going to protect him, Chris would have to learn to protect himself. Yes, Travis disagreed with Madison’s idea that protecting and sheltering their children was what was best for them, he didn’t want to see anyone dead.

            “That’s fine,” Travis nodded. “Anyone else?”

            “Daniel?” Nick prompted when nobody spoke up.

            The older man shook his head and glanced at his daughter. “I want to stay with Ofelia.”

            Alicia began tapping at the edge of the table with her fork and Elyza glanced over at the noise. The brunette was biting her lip and glancing at her mother indecisively. Elyza was seated directly across from her and tried to catch her eye.

            Blue met green for a brief moment as Alicia licked her lips and leaned her arms on the table. “I want to go too.”

            “So do I!” Aden called out, raising his arms. Elyza whipped around and smacked the boy next to her. The table broke into discussion almost immediately at the two exclamations.

            “Like hell you’re going.” She hissed at him, missing Alicia’s words completely. “You’re still hurt and sick. You’re staying here.”

            “You don’t make the rules, Elyza.”

            “You’re also, fourteen. Hell no.”

            “I saved your life on the Freedom, didn’t I? I could easily do it again if the need arose. If I’m not there, you could die.”

            “Aden, there will be others there. I’m not going to die. If anything, you would. It’s safer for you here. If anything, you can protect the others while I’m gone.” Elyza squeezed his arm.

            The younger boy frowned and seemed wholly prepared to argue with her. But they were interrupted by Madison standing up and slamming her hands on the table.

            “Fine! Do what you want!” She shouted, shaking her finger at her daughter before turning on her heels and storming down the stairs to her bedroom.

            Travis rose from his seat a moment later and nodded to everyone at the table, “I’ll be back in a little bit to discuss a better plan.” Then he turned and followed his girlfriend at a much more controlled pace. Elyza glanced around the table at the somber faces. _What the hell just happened?_

            “I’ll talk to mom, Alicia,” Nick bumped his sister’s shoulder. “She can’t be mad at you forever.”

            Alicia scoffed, “She might forgive you but she’s always had a problem with me.” She played with the dried fruit on her plate before popping a couple into her mouth. Her eyes felt as though they were drawn to Elyza’s across the table. The blonde was frowning at her, an obvious question in her eyes that Alicia didn’t want to answer in that moment.

            Nick shook his head and stood next, “Whatever. I’m going to go catch some sleep before tomorrow. Wake me early when we see some land.”

            Slowly but surely, everyone left the table. Aden kept flashing Elyza dirty looks, unhappy with her decision to leave him behind. But it was the best decision for the two of them. If he was safe, Elyza would be able to focus better. He was the only person she had that was even remotely connected to her friends from the Freedom. He was also a child and no matter how dangerous he could be with a machete, he shouldn’t have to deal with this situation.

            No matter how angry he was with her, he would understand her decision eventually.

            Strand left for the wheelhouse again and Ofelia went downstairs with Daniel to get some rest. Aden and Chris left together, quietly discussing some videogames they used to play before the world ended. That left Alicia and Elyza alone at the table.

            “So what just happened?” Elyza asked after a moment of silence between them. The sun was completely below the horizon and the only light illuminating the dining room was the one overhead. It was harsh and cast shadows all over the room, but enough to see by.

            “My mom doesn’t want me going to Point Loma with you,” Alicia rolled her eyes and sipped at her glass of water. “She’s always been so wrapped up in Nick she hadn’t paid much attention to me. Now that I want to go put myself in danger, she can’t stand the thought of me getting hurt. She’s never worried about it before.” Her voice was laced with contempt and bitterness.

            “Alicia, I don’t think she wasn’t worried before. It’s just that now there are things that can actually get you killed. She just doesn’t want to lose you. Or Nick. You could die, Alicia, that’s more glaringly obvious now than ever before.”

            Alicia shook her head and scoffed, “Are _you_ trying to convince me not to go too?”

            “No,” Elyza managed, though the anxiety she felt at the idea of Alicia dying hurt more than she wanted to admit. “I just don’t want you to hate on your mother.”

            “Yeah, well. It’s not up to her what I do anymore. She keeps trying to coddle me all of the sudden,” Alicia crossed her arms and slouched in her chair.

            “All of the sudden?”

            Alicia rolled her eyes and stared at the spot Madison had been sitting at, “Nick has always been the problem child. She’s always been too worried about him to really worry about me. Now…it really bothers me that she’s trying to pay so much attention. She didn’t care before, why should she care now?”

            “Alicia, she’s always cared. I know I didn’t get along with my mother very well, but she always cares, no matter how much we disagree. So…just give her a chance, okay?”

            The brunette rolled her eyes again and released a heavy sigh. “Fine.”

            “Good, now come with me,” Elyza stood and straightened her clothes.

            “Where are we going?” Alicia replied, rolling her eyes again and making no move to do as Elyza said.

            “Outside,” Elyza gestured towards the deck.

            Alicia wrinkled her nose, “Its cold outside.”

            “It is not,” Elyza huffed, trying to mask her annoyance but failing miserably, “now come on.”

            Alicia stood begrudgingly and mumbled something Elyza couldn’t quite hear. They walked outside together and the blonde guided them down to the swimming deck. She sat down cross-legged and patted the spot next to her. When Alicia finally sat down, Elyza turned her face upward towards the sky.

            The brunette watched her as she gazed at the stars. It was a crisp, mostly cloudless night and the stars shone down brightly. The chilly air caused goosebumps to rise on Alicia’s arms, but she ignored them, opting to enjoy the present company. It lit up Elyza’s hair, giving it an ethereal, white-blondeness that captured her attention. The woman was just so damn _beautiful_ on her own, with the assistance of the stars she looked downright _angelic_.

            Butterflies fluttered in her stomach and a rush of air escaped her at the sudden influx of feelings. They hit her like a sucker punch to the gut. She hadn’t felt like this before. No matter how much she had loved Matt, this was different. This transcended all common sense. This was like drowning and loving every second of it. Or maybe, she mused, it was like finally coming up for air and breathing the freshest and deepest she ever had.

            Elyza’s face turned towards hers and Alicia jerked away, her eyes turning upward and seeking out patterns in the stars. She leaned back on her hands as her eyes traced over the familiar patterns in the sky.

            “My dad used to tell me stories about the constellations,” Alicia whispered in awe. She stretched out her legs and laid backwards on the wooden deck. It wasn’t remotely comfortable and the chill seeped deeper into her bones, but she ignored it.

            Elyza mimicked her and stuck her hand behind her head to prop herself up. “Mmm, tell me a story then.”

            Alicia scanned the sky again and her eyes fell upon the belt of Orion before tracking the entire shape of the ancient hero. “There,” she pointed and Elyza leaned closer to follow her sight.  “Do you see that star there?”

            “Yeah, that one?” Elyza pointed.

            “Sure,” the brunette chuckled, “well follow that to the next bright one…those three are Orion’s belt. It’s kind of hard to find it without a guide but it’s there. Anyway,” Alicia sucked in a deep breath before continuing, “Orion was the son of Poseidon, or Neptune depending on which myth you read. His mother was an Amazonian archer and warrior and Orion was a giant of a guy. Like a huge, well accomplished warrior with an ego to match. He was capable of defeating the largest of animals in the hunt and unmatchable. At some point he falls in love with a princess and loses his sight then gets it back. Blah blah blah.”

            “Wait,” Elyza turned and frowned at Alicia, “don’t skip parts. How did he lose his eyesight?”

            Alicia huffed again and frowned, trying to remember. The stories were a little dusty, she hadn’t thought about them since her father had died. They were a sore spot that Alicia didn’t like thinking about. But here she was, telling a beautiful girl one of the stories her father had gone through dozens of times.

            “Fine, this Princess’s father didn’t approve of him, even though Orion had ridden his land of all the wild beasts. This made the hunter angry so Orion tried to get her through violent means. The King ended up blinding him with magic or something, I don’t remember,” Alicia shut her eyes. She could feel Elyza’s eyes on her and could imagine the bright blue of them boring into her skin. It was distracting.

            “Orion runs away or is cast out and wanders until he finds the sun god who takes pity on him and heals his sight. Then Artemis—the virgin goddess of the hunt, meets him and favors him as a huntsman and apparently they were supposed to get married or something, the stories are a little skewed.

            “Anyway, Apollo—Artemis’ twin brother—was worried for his sister’s chastity and created a scorpion. Orion ends up killed by it in the end.” Alicia finishes and opens her eyes. Her world is enveloped by the deepest most honest blue eyes imaginable.

            “That was depressing,” Elyza grumbled, her tone dead.

            Alicia laughed outright, turning so she was facing the blonde directly. “Most Greek myths are depressing.”

            “Are there any stories where the hero gets the girl?”

            “Normally they get the girl and get tired of the girl, so they go and find another one. It’s pretty sexist if you ask me.”

            Elyza rolled her eyes and smiled, enjoying the mirth and relaxed pleasure Alicia was gaining from this. Her goal had been accomplished, get Alicia’s mind off of her mother. If they were to be putting their lives in danger the next day, neither of them needed to be dwelling on problems back on the Abigail. It would lead to mistakes that could lead to one, or all of them getting killed.

            There was no telling what type of situation they would be walking into the next morning. With untrained survivors on hand, fear and distraction could be a deciding factor on their overall fate. So keeping Alicia calm and well rested would be a key part in their survival.

            When Elyza didn’t reply Alicia babbled on, “You know the scorpion was a metaphor right? Or maybe more of an irony. Orion could kill any beast, bears and wild cats…but he wasn’t able to defeat a tiny scorpion. It’s a lesson to never underestimate the smallest of us, because we might have something up or sleeve later.”

            Elyza felt it then. The deep, magnetic pull of attraction and utter devotion to this woman before her. It was irresistible and more welcomed than she cared to admit. It should have been crazy, to feel this much for one person without really knowing them.

            “Don’t do that.” Alicia blurted before a deep pink blush painted her cheeks. She glanced down when their eyes met and her hair fell in her face.

            Elyza frowned and the small smile on her lips faded. “Do what?”

            “Look at me like that,” Alicia rolled so she was directly facing Elyza with her head resting in her hand. She gestured vaguely in the blonde’s direction.

            “Like what?”

            “Like,” she couldn’t find the words and gestured again, turning to face the sky, her hair falling into her face even more. “Like I’m the answer to the universe or something.”

            Elyza licked her lips and reached out to brush her fingers along Alicia’s jaw. She knew these feelings weren’t one sided. They had nearly kissed earlier in the day, she knew it. But now Alicia was nervous and trying to push her away. Without thinking, Elyza blurted the first words that popped into her mind, “What if you are?”

            Alicia’s breath hitched and she was almost certain her heart had stopped. For all of the romantic poems and art Matt had created for her, of all of the things he had said, they were nothing compared to Elyza Lex. The woman before her was a mystery, one that was slowly being unraveled as they grew closer. But Matt was still there, holding a part of her heart and inked into her skin as a reminder of how much he meant to her.

            She couldn’t do this. Not now. It would be a betrayal, wouldn’t it?

            The blonde rolled into a sitting position and turned her back to the brunette when she didn’t receive any response. Her face was dark red with embarrassment and shame for seeing something that wasn’t actually there, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”

            “It’s okay,” Alicia sat up, “you didn’t. Not really.”

            Elyza turned and their eyes met again. It was like _knowing_. They didn’t have to speak about it, but there was still something separating them. Something Alicia didn’t want to discuss yet, so Elyza would wait.

            “Good.” Elyza stood and stuffed her hands into her pockets. “We should probably get you inside to warm up. Don’t need you getting sick too.”


	19. Chapter Nineteen: Point Loma

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey all! I know it has been awhile since I last updated, but my life has finally settled down enough that I can focus on writing over Christmas break. This update was supposed to come earlier than it did, but my hard drive decided to take a crap on me right after I got out of school. So yeah, it kind of sucks but lucky enough I recovered my data because over half of this chapter was already written! I hope the length makes up for the MIA. Hope you enjoy, feel free to leave comments! ~TGF
> 
> PS sorry the formatting is all weird. My beta had to send it to me over Docs and I'm no good with formatting on Docs.

**Chapter Nineteen: Point Loma**

  
The next morning was quiet. Elyza awoke earlier than everyone else,as she had been shocked awake by the feeling of falling. It wasn't an uncommon dream, but it was one of those dreams that she couldn't fall back asleep after.

So she lay there, her heart beating slowly within her chest in her chest and staring up at the bland ceiling above her in wonder. Quiet, calm mornings were a time to reflect, whether unwanted or otherwise. But thinking about her old life, how a couple of months ago she was back in Australia arguing with her mom and partying at University, she couldn't help but think that her life couldn't have been any more normal or on track.  
Now, she was on a boat in the middle of nowhere. She was about to head onto shore again and she wasn't very sure of what she would be met with. Elyza's brain jumped back to the convenient store and freezing when she was had been needed. She didn't want to freeze, she didn't want someone to die because of her.  
"Elyza?" Alicia's voice was thick and gravelly with sleep. The sound of sheets rustling drew Elyza's attention. She didn't want Alicia dying because of her.  
The blonde turned her head and caught the bright green of Alicia's eyes. "Hmm?"  
"Why are you awake?"  
Elyza rolled her eyes, "Why are you?"

She sat up and stretched her back, enjoying the relief as her muscles and bones stretched and cracked.  
"I don't want to be," Alicia threw the covers off of her body and sat up too, placing her feet on the ground. The sun was coming up and the small amount of light seeping through was gray and feeble.   
"We should be getting close to Point Loma, there's no point in going back to sleep." Elyza's eyes were unconsciously drawn to the thin line of skin exposed by Alicia's shirt riding up. She glanced away quickly, unable to keep the flush from rushing to her face. Alicia didn't seem to notice, or didn't want to mention it because she stood up and turned away.   
"I'm going to shower then," she opened their bedroom door and ran a hand through her disheveled bedhead. One of the things Elyza found most attractive about Alicia was when she let her hair go untamed and wild, like when she woke up and didn't seemed to care that her hair was sticking straight up. It was cute and endearing. It was something the blonde didn't want to admit, even to herself, made her even more attracted to the brunette.   
But it was futile, trying to hide her budding feelings for Alicia. She was a determined and stubborn survivor of a fucking apocalypse. What wasn't to like about her? She was smart, funny, and an incredibly fast learner when it came to combat. She was empathetic, she was always understanding how people felt or thought without even asking them.   
Having feelings for her complicated things, it blurred the lines that Elyza had tried drawing for herself. Every time she got attached to someone, the likelihood of losing people grew. She had already lost too many. She could only assume Bellamy and the others were dead, that her mom and Wells were caught in the initial spread of the outbreak. Now here she was, in a situation that could easily lead to the death of anyone because nature gave zero fucks about who lived or died, and she was having feelings for a girl who barely knew how to protect herself.   
Elyza shook her head and huffed out an annoyed breath before standing up and moving around to the other side of the room. The crew of the Abigail had gotten together to provide Elyza and Aden with clothes they may have needed before being able to stop to scrounge for more. Most of Elyza's clothes had come from Alicia, Madison, or Ofelia.  The majority of the clothes were ill-fitting, but she didn't mind much.   
She yanked on her camouflage combat pants and changed into a loose-fitting white shirt that Nick had given her. It fit better than most of the things she had acquired and she liked it. As she shifted through the drawer of the dresser, she came across her pocket knife. Elyza slipped it into her pocket and licked her lips.   
The gun Strand had given her was at the forefront of her mind. She glanced behind her and found that Alicia had already left the room, the sound of the shower was  muffled through the walls. The weapon was only supposed to be for emergencies or immediate danger, she assumed. But this was a situation that called for protection.   
Without giving it much more thought, Elyza reached under the edge of the mattress and her fingers wrapped around the cold metal of the gun. She slid it out and stuffed it into the back of her pants and pulled her shirt down over it. The metal was chilly against her skin and stiff, considering it dug into her spine, but it would have to do.   
As she was sliding her army jacket over her shoulders and straightening the collar, Nick knocked on the door and stuck his head through it. "Hey, everyone's ready upstairs. We're going to divvy up the weapons and head to shore."   
"Okay, I'm on my way. Alicia's showering, though."   
"Stupid," Nick rolled his eyes, "she's only going to get dirty all over again."   
Elyza shrugged and stuffed her hands into her pockets. "She doesn't know what it's like out there. Neither do you."   
Nick grinned, "We'll see about that."   
~ ~ ~   
Most everyone was on the swimming deck when the two of them arrived, save for Alicia who was still in the shower and Ofelia who was bedridden. Madison handed Elyza a backpack filled with whatever food they could spare for this endeavor.   
Land was in sight, blurred by early morning dew but still there. It was fairly flat, with hills rising behind it and hiding the city lying beyond. Elyza shivered against the chill and crossed her arms over her chest, trying to push away the thoughts of what lay there. She didn't know if she was ready for this, but knew that if she didn't prepare now, she was going to get her and everyone else killed.   
Strand leaned against the wall by the rescue boat. He held a duffle bag in his hand and looked entirely too busy staring at the sunrise to care about what everyone else was doing.   
Aden moved to stand besides Elyza and nudged her shoulder, "Hey."   
"Hey," she smiled and placed her arm around his shoulders. Aden was the only one she was familiar with in this group and having him close comforted her.   
"I still don't agree with you going without me," he murmured and sent her a pointed look, "but since you have to go, promise you'll come back."   
Elyza licked her dry lips and nodded, "I'm coming back, there's no question of that."   
"Promise?" Aden cleared his throat and straightened his back, finding it difficult to express how he was feeling. "It-It'll just make me feel better to know that you'll try your hardest to keep your promise."   
The blonde sucked in a deep breath and turned Aden to face her directly, placing both hands on his wiry shoulders. "I promise. I'll see you tomorrow when I get back and everything will be perfectly fine."   
Her words seemed to placate the young boy for the time being and he nodded. "Good."   
"Where's Alicia?" Chris asked, tightening the straps of his backpack.   
"Here," the brunette called from above. Her hair was wet and pulled back into a high ponytail. She had on a pair of jeans and a blue t-shirt underneath another of her plaid button-downs.   
Strand kicked himself off of the wall and stepped forward, brandishing his bag. "Alright, I have some…protection for you." He placed the bag on the ground and knelt before, unzipping it to reveal what was inside. He withdrew three handguns and stood. "Travis, Nick and Elyza. These are for you." He passed them around before grabbing a couple more things, a baseball bat and a golf club. Strand tossed them to Alicia and Chris. "Neither of you are trained in the use of weapons and neither of you are over eighteen so there."   
Chris glanced over his golf club, grimacing at its weight. "Having this means I have to get closer to those… things. I could die."   
"And you have unlimited ammunition." Strand smiled, "You're welcome. Just don't break anything."   
"Why can't I have a gun again?"   
"You don't know how to use it and I only have so many. Be thankful for what you have,” Strand snapped.   
When there was no further protest, Nick and Travis proceeded to withdraw the rescue boat from its compartment and settle it into the water, tethering it to a post on the edge of the swimming deck.   
Alicia side stepped closer to Aden and Elyza, bumped shoulders with Aden. "Hey, kiddo, don't look so worried. I'll keep your sister safe."

She winked at Elyza over his head and smirked.  
"Thanks," Aden glanced at Elyza too, giving her a dubious look. "She'll need it. She gets clumsy when she runs."   
"It's a damn good thing I was on the track team," Alicia squeezed his shoulder and went to go talk to her mom across the deck.   
Elyza faced Aden, "I'll be back, okay?"   
"Okay," Aden's voice lacked conviction.   
"Keep everyone else safe while I'm gone. I know you can whoop some ass with a machete," Elyza grinned and pulled the young boy in for a hug by the scruff of his neck. In the short amount of time she had known him, Aden had become someone Elyza couldn't imagine being without. Maybe it was the new situation she found herself in, but she was creating some steadfast bonds with people she hardly knew. If she didn't know any better, she would think her and Aden were siblings.   
Nick shouted from the boat for her to hurry up. She let the boy go and gave him a reassuring smile. "I'll see you tomorrow."   
"Smash some deadheads in for me, Lex." Aden called after her.   
"Will do, kid," she waved behind her before stepping down into the boat and taking a seat next to Chris, who was hunched over glaring at his golf club. It kind of scared Elyza, she wasn't sure if he would suddenly whip the club around at her and beat her head in.   
She shivered at the thought and scooted to the left as Travis started the engine. Alicia sat across from her and flashed her a reassuring smile before saluting at her, unable to speak due to the noise of the revving engine.   
With that, they took off towards the shore.   
~ ~ ~   
When they came across land, it was quiet. Elyza was accustomed to the loud noises of traffic and people wherever she went. Hearing nothing made her stomach clench and heart beat faster in her chest.   
Travis had killed the engine a couple of hundred yards before they hit the shore in hopes of minimizing the noise. He didn't want to draw unwanted attention from the living or the dead, but there wasn't much they could do about it.   
Once everyone had departed the boat, Nick and Elyza beached it along the sand near an outcrop of palmetto trees. The others grabbed out their supplies and back off once they were gathered together.   
Having solid land under her feet for the first time in weeks felt weird. Her equilibrium was off and lack of constant motion made her wobble and trip every which way. If she didn't get herself together soon she was going to trip and get killed by a pile of the dead.   
"Let's cover the boat with leaves, just in case someone's seen our movement," Alicia called out, already pulling at the branches of the palmettos to drape them over boat. Nick reached over to help and soon enough the vessel was adequately camouflaged.   
"Looks good to me," Travis wiped his hands on his jeans before yanking a map out of his back pocket. "We about an eight mile walk to the base, according to this map. I want everyone to stay on high alert and keep your weapons posed.   
"Nick, Elyza, keep Chris and Alicia between you. Weapons at the ready." He turned inland, opened the map and began heading in a direction he deemed the correct one.   
Elyza's heart was already thumping harder in her chest as adrenaline coursed through her veins. Her eyes drifted to the brunette nearby and watched as she glanced around uncertainly. She looked guarded and tense, as if waiting for something to jump out at her at any second.   
In a split second decision, Elyza grabbed onto Alicia's arm before she could get to far away. "Do you know how to use a gun?"   
Alicia frowned as Elyza drew the weapon from her jacket, the one Strand had given her—not the one stuffed in the back of her pants. "Uh, no."   
"Alright," Elyza stepped closer and held the weapon in the palm of her hand. She clicked the magazine release button on the side and caught the loaded item in her hand. "Now it can't hurt anyone because we don't have any bullets." She placed the magazine in her pocket and checked that the chamber was empty before handing the weapon to Alicia.   
The brunette held the weapon away from her body, she looked unsure of what to do with the foreign object.  Neither of her parents felt a need to teach her anything about weapons in her lifetime, so Alicia was completely out of her comfort zone.   
"Alicia," Elyza chuckled, "hold the gun like a gun." She twisted the weapon until it was firmly gripped in Alicia's hand and smiled. "Okay." She began gesturing to various parts of the weapon and rambling off terms Alicia did not understand but tried to grasp onto. It was a straightforward procedure and Alicia liked to consider herself a quick study.   
"Shooting is going to be difficult the first time and we can't really afford to do that right now," Elyza gestured behind her at the receding figures further up the beach. "But, remember to breathe and aim with the front sight." She withdrew the gun from Alicia's hand and held it up. "I'm left handed so it'll be harder to teach you, but still—"   
"Elyza! What are you doing?" Nick called, finally noticing that the two girls weren't following.   
"Keeping goin, I've got this!" The blonde called back, not even turning to look at the younger man. She grabbed the magazine from her pocket and inserted it into the gun.

"Now we're loaded, but the safety is on."

Elyza moved to step next to the brunette and held the gun up with one hand.

"I can't pull the trigger, see?" She yanked on it, but it clicked a couple of times before she stopped.  
"I can't empathize this enough," she said as adamant blue eyes met green, "always turn off your safety because if you're in a sticky situation where you have to make a split second move, you will forget." Elyza released the magazine again after turning the safety back on, "If you want to change your magazine, make sure the gun is de-cocked, which just means to make sure the hammer isn't pulled back."   
Nick watched from further up the sand as Elyza handed his little sister a loaded gun. His heart sped up in his chest at the mere idea of Alicia handling a gun  and he was running down the beach before he could even register he was moving.   
He snatched the weapon out of Alicia's hands before she could hurt herself and wheeled around on Elyza, "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He took too large, intimidating steps forward. He towered over Elyza, but she didn't back down, steeled herself for a confrontation and clenched her jaw.   
"I'm showing her how to use a gun, seeming that nobody else will."   
"That's not your decision to make," Nick snarled, shoving the blonde backwards slightly and she almost lost her footing on the slippery sand.   
"What if you die? What if I die? What if Chris and Travis die out there and she has nobody to help her get back to the boat?" Elyza growled, shoving her hand in the middle of Nick's chest. She stared into his fuming eyes, "Would you want her to die too? Just because she couldn't protect herself?"   
"Nick—" Alicia started, grabbing his bicep and trying to tear him away from the blonde.   
"No, 'Licia, this isn't how things work," Nick turned to his sister and peeled his arm away from her before referencing Elyza again. "She's too young—"   
"She is not," Elyza shot back. "This life is short now, you grow up faster and I bet you know that feeling too. You have to adapt and keep moving constantly. It isn't up to you, Madison or Travis what she or anyone else does because she can make her own decisions for herself."   
"What is going on?" Travis called, his voice deep and firm.  It was a tone Elyza was familiar with when her dad got irritated with her and her friends for being idiots. Her eyes didn't deviate from Nick's as she watched him slowly realize she was right. His shoulder's slumped, but his jaw continued to clench and unclench, still having a firm hold on his weapon.   
"Nothing, Travis," Elyza stepped back and held her hand out, "Give me my gun, Nick." The ratty haired boy took a moment to analyze the situation, glancing between everyone surrounding him. Travis was confused, having not understood the sudden hostility between the two and Alicia looked shocked and a little scared. Chris stared at them, bored, his golf club across the back of his neck and his arms over either end.   
Nick handed the weapon back, "We need to get moving, we're burning daylight." Then he was shouldering past Elyza and climbing up the incline once again.   
Travis glanced between Elyza and Alicia for a second, seeming to want to ask something,but unable to formulate the question. He turned and ushered his son after Nick and the two girls followed in his path.   
They all walked in silence for a while. Elyza had her gun out and her eyes scanning, entire body on high alert for any sign of the dead. But, they were isolated enough that they didn't run into any. The beach was desolate, void of people and greenery. A sharp cliff blocked off the view of what was lying east of them.   
"The road should be right around this curve," Travis called from the front, gesturing to the seven or eight-foot-high sheer ledge they were skirting around.   
They had been walking for another solid ten minutes before they came across an area they could actually reach the road from. Having much more solid ground beneath their feet made the trek easier than before and they fell into a rhythm.   
The road was empty, the sound of the waves the only thing to penetrate the overpowering silence. Nick was still upset and Elyza was just hoping Alicia hadn't gotten pissed with her for picking a fight with her brother. She tried not to focus on that by maintaining high levels of alertness to her surroundings, but there was nothing to be seen.   
"Hey," Alicia said, falling into step next to her, far behind Nick, who was trailing behind Chris and Travis. "Thanks for all of that."   
"Thanks?" Elyza quirked an eyebrow, relief flooding her features no matter how collected she tried to be. "Picking a fight with your brother whilst he held a loaded gun wasn't very intelligent of me."   
"I didn't say it was intelligent, but I am thanking you for it. Nobody seems to really take me seriously; they still think I need to be protected from the horrors of life. But honestly, life is a horror story now, so there's no way to hide it without hurting me." Alicia shoved her hands into her pocket and turned her face towards the sun.   
It had grown hotter as the sun peaked over the horizon and evaporated the rest of the fog and dew hanging over them. Now the temperature was nearly blistering, except for those moments of respite that came with the cool ocean breeze.   
"Everyone is still stuck in…real life, I guess. They haven't adapted to what life really is now. If this infection isn't isolated to California, then we are the prey now. We may have been at the top of the food chain before, but from what I've seen, these…dead, undead, whatever they are. They're the real predators and we have to hide, fight or be killed." Elyza caught Alicia's eyes and they watched each other, their eyes skating over the other's features as the reality sunk into them both.   
"Guys," Chris’ warning voice  came from ahead. His voice was pitched slightly higher than usual, alerting Elyza immediately. She edged closer to the brunette and flicked off the safety of her gun, turning to examine their surroundings.   
A dead man was meandering towards them, slowly coming around a corner they couldn't see beyond. The only telltale sign from this distance was the slow, limping walk and slumped posture. Elyza paused in her spot, bring the gun up and training both eyes down the barrel of her gun, "Move out of the way!"   
The three men in front of her turned and shuffled out of her line of sight, coming to rest along the cliff as the dead man came closer. He was still a good twenty yards away from Elyza, but she took quick aim, sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out while squeezing the trigger.   
The bang of the hammer hitting home, echoed loudly off of the rocks and Alicia jumped. A split second later the undead man was…well, dead again, blood spattering from his forehead and his body collapsing backwards with the force of the bullet embedded in his brain.   
Before anyone could make a second move, more came stumbling around the corner.   
"Shit," Nick called, jogging closer and as far around the edge as he could without getting in the dead's way. "There's like ten of them! Huddle up!"   
Elyza grabbed Alicia's hand and pulled them closer to where Chris and Travis were. The older man was holding the gun as if he didn't know what to do with it and Chris was waving his gold club around, hands shaking. Alicia let go of Elyza's hand, tightening both hands around her bat and standing up straighter. In that moment, was very thankful for that one summer of softball in sixth grade.   
Instead of wasting bullets, Elyza aimed at a couple of the dead that were further away and tightened her grip to keep her hands from shaking. They aren't alive, they want to kill you. She sucked in a deep breath to steady her fraying nerves before relaxing and releasing her breath like her father had taught her. Her finger squeezed the trigger before letting go until it clicked and aiming again. Three bullets and two of the dead were down.   
She shoved the gun into her jacket pocket and flicked open her knife in her pocket. Alicia had stepped forward, a couple of feet away and swung at a dead woman's head. The echoing noises of Nick's gun going off frayed even more at Elyza's nerves. If he kept shooting like that he would be out of bullets and drawing more attention to himself.   
"Nick! Hit something! Do you want to draw more?" She shouted, just as a grunting hiss came from her left. She had just enough time to turn and catch the dead man by his jacket and shove him away. He was military, a flab of skin hanging off of his cheek, oozing blood and infection. His hair was falling out and his eyes were a filmed, unseeing icy color.

His hands grasped uselessly at Elyza's arms, teeth gnashing and breath smelling of death and decaying human flesh. Elyza nearly threw up and used all of her upper body strength to keep the thing off of her. The blood rushed in her ears and her vision narrowed to what was in front of her. The knife nearly fell from her hands they grew so sweaty so fast, but she managed to keep a firm hold.  
She shoved the dead man away, managing to get a little bit of space between them and stumble further backwards. Chris was beating at the chest of one of the dead on her left, in the middle of the street while Travis had resorted to his knife, in the process of following through with a kill.   
Elyza didn't have enough time to find Alicia or Nick when the dead man came at her again. This time she got a better grip on his collar with her right hand and held him a good six inches away from her face. He kept straining forward, desperate to sink his teeth into her flesh but that wasn't going to happen.   
The blonde brought her knife up and through one of those unseeing eyes, staring into them as the knife penetrated the vitreous body and sending warm liquid dripping down her arm. She kept on though, twisting and shoving the knife up to the hilt and grasping the back of the man's head to keep him there until he stopped moving.   
He fell backwards with a quick shove and Elyza used her boot on his chest as leverage to yank the knife from his brain. Before she could properly react there was another undead right next to her, it's head arching forward and its mouth open, ready to take a chunk out of her forearm.  

_Thump!_

Right next to her head came the brute force of a bat, twisting and breaking the neck of her attacker just enough that it's head missed her.  
Alicia stood on the other side as the man fell dead;   It was right next to the one Elyza had just killed. Her face was splattered with droplets of blood and her chest rose and fell quickly. The end of her bat was dosed in a thick layer of dark, coagulating blood.   
"Are you okay?" She asked.   
"Shit, am I okay? Are you? None of that is your blood right, Princess?"   
Alicia rolled her eyes and glanced around, but found that the rest of their attackers had been put down. Nick lay under a dead man, squirming and scrambling for purchase to get out. Travis helped roll the man off of him and they clasped hands before Nick got to his feet.   
His shirt was covered in dead man blood. It stuck to his clothe and was already drying to his skin.   
"Is everyone okay?" Travis called, scrambling over to check each of them for wounds. His eyes wandered over everyone, searching the blood spots for possible bite marks before he was satisfied that nobody had been injured.   
Chris wiped some blood off of his cheek, the golf club hanging from his right hand, "That was…something else." He was staring at one Elyza assumed he had killed. He watched it intensely, as if anticipating it coming back to life so he could beat back into submission. Their eyes met for the briefest of moments and Elyza was certain she had seen a manic glee in his eyes.   
Of course, it could have just been post battle adrenaline but to her, it looked like he had enjoyed killing these things.   
"No kidding," Nick grimaced, pulling his shirt out and away from his body. "Anyone have an extra shirt?"   
"I do," Travis pulled the backpack from his shoulders and opened it. He withdrew a t-shirt and tossed it to the boy who was already shirtless. Nick changed quickly before Travis referenced them all, "We need to keep moving if we want to get to the base by nightfall."   
~ ~ ~   
They heard the walkers it before they saw them.  Chris picked up the noises first. They were distant and alerted them to the presence of the dead within the area.  Hissing, groans, and the noises of movement sent a shiver down Elyza spine.   
"Do you hear that?" Chris called quietly. If they were approaching infected, then he didn't want to draw attention to them.   
The group stopped to listen and the instant Elyza heard it she tensed. Growls and hisses of agitated dead just around and over the top of the ridge.   
"We must be getting close, stay on alert." Travis called behind him and everyone heeded his words. The tension rose as they all scanned their surroundings for any signs of a potential threat.   
Less than ten minutes later they discovered their first car, not long after there were more. Some of them had been in accidents while others had been stuck in traffic and had decided walking was their best bet.   
Buildings came next, some were short and squat, cars congesting their lots and a few straggling dead moseying about. The group avoided them, using the cars as barriers and protection until they came across the single gas station within whatever small town they had stumbled upon.   
"We should go in and see what we can find." Nick suggested. "There could be some medical supplies."   
"The likelihood of that is slim. We should get to base first and then check on our way back. There's clearly been a lot of people here already," Elyza argued, spotting movement through a dusty window and wondering how infested the place may have been. "If we go all of the way in and raid the naval base we can hit places we think will be good supply spots on our way back."   
"Good idea, Elyza," Travis nodded, "we keep moving and get into the base, it shouldn't be much farther up the road."   
Their surroundings didn't change much but the amount of cars sure did. During the initial epidemic people must have thought being on a military base would keep them safer and tried to escape San Diego by retreating to less populated areas. But they had been wrong, based off of the lack of noise and living people.   
There were very few trees, but most of them were shrubs and barely over four feet tall. The grass was browning from lack of rain and the sun made it nearly impossible to think of anything else except a nice, cool bath. But finally the gates of the Point Loma military base came into view and the group stared at it.   
"We're going in there?" Alicia asked, eyes wide and fingers fiddling with the grip of her bat.   
Elyza glanced at Travis, whose eyes were wide with horror. "Nick and I can go."   
"You can volunteer yourself, but I'm not going in there." Nick protested.   
Countless waves of the infected were on the other side. Most of them were oblivious to their presence but the view nearest to the gate were reaching through in hopes of a warm meal. They looked alive, most of them seemed uninjured, while other undead looked as though they had gotten their throats slit or bullet wounds and died of blood loss.   
"Let me see if I can find a better way in," Elyza holstered her gun, shoving it into the waistband of her pants and stepped forward. She reached up to grab at the notches in the wall. It was at least eight feet tall, but it seemed to surround the entire compound. If she could get a better vantage point they would have a better idea of what they were dealing with.   
Nobody helped her and she was teetering on the foot-wide wall before Alicia began to protest. "No! What are you doing? Get down from there! What if you fall?" She threw her hands up and rushed to stare up the wall at the blonde woman.   
Elyza sat down and extended her arm, "Hand me your bat?"   
"What?" Alicia frowned, slightly outraged at being ignored. "No! Get down here."   
Elyza rolled her eyes and open and closed her hand. "I'm going to scout the base to see what we're up against. I'm not going inside; I'm just going to stay on the wall. Please?"   
Alicia let out a huff of frustration before extending her bat up. "If you die, I'm going to kill you."   
The blonde smirked and got to her feet, straightening her jacket. She winked and twirled the bat around. "Don't worry, Princess. I'll be right back."   
"You better be."   
Elyza took off after that, jogging on the wall but crouching low to make for a much smaller target if there was anyone wanting to hurt her. What she saw from her new vantage point struck fear into her heart and she began to think this mission was going to be a failure.   
There were tents set up within the main courtyard but hundreds of covered bodies lay in organized lines along the front steps of the main building. They were stark white against their surroundings and the sun struck off of them and nearly blinded Elyza. Her heart sank further into her stomach when she realized the extent of the devastation as she kept moving.   
More bodies were lined against the edge of the compound, a pit dug nearby with remains burned and buried beneath rubble. Even more of the dead were aimlessly walking, some had their faces buried in a decomposing body, making for a horrifying sight indeed. Elyza felt the images ingrain themselves into her memory and when she tried to blink they stuck around behind her eyelids.   
Any hope of discovering her friends and family again…any hope of going back to Australia was instantly wiped from her mind. There was no hope left. Whatever the human race had done to deserve this sort of devastation and death, they were paying it in full. She wondered what she had done to deserve this. Had she not appreciated what she had in her life?  Had she taken her mum and dad for granted?   
She must have or she wouldn't be here.   
She kept moving and tried to focus on the task at hand, but the only thing she could think about was how she didn't want Alicia to see this. The girl was too young and innocent to be forced to endure this view. Maybe she was thinking like Madison about it, but that didn't change the fact that she wanted to protect Alicia any way that she could.   
A thump drew her from her thoughts and she glanced down. An infected man was standing on a double stack of bodies and his fingertips nearly reached the edge of the wall. Elyza jumped back, nearly slipping off of the cement wall and falling backwards the eight feet to the hard ground below. She yelped as her stomach dropped, before she recovered her footing.   
She rushed further down the wall, taking a corner and rushing away from the dead man following the scuffing noises of her boots. She kept moving until she felt safe enough to take a deep breath. This far away, she could see another entrance on the far eastern side of the compound, separated by another gate.   
Houses were lined on either side of a simple two-way road. The area looked deserted and even more fencing surrounded it. Elyza wasn't sure whether or not it was completely clear of infected but still, it was a chance to scrounge up some supplies. With houses came prescriptions and she could only hope that one of the soldiers living there had been taking antibiotics for something or other.   
She scanned the fence line, wondering if there was any way to get in without having to climb the wall. The fence was pointed at the end and would be difficult to climb over so using the thick cement wall would be the simplest way to get through.   
Scanning her surroundings once again, she tried to think of something better…something more effective than just raiding houses. This base was a godsend, but only if they were capable of navigating it. There had to be weapons, resources and medical supplies that would turn any doctor into a giddy mess. But there was no way to get to those supplies if they weren't capable of getting through the overcrowded grounds.  It was almost impossible without being killed themselves.   
With a sigh, Elyza sat down on the wall and slid off, landing on the soil with a resounding thud. She wiped the dust off of her shirt and began heading back in the direction of the others.   
Alicia was pacing back and forth when she appeared. Nick had told her to calm down, that Elyza was capable of scouting for them by herself and that she shouldn't worry so much. But Alicia couldn't help it. She couldn't help but wonder if Elyza wouldn't come back.   
When she spotted the blonde hair from behind the shrubbery, relief flooded through the brunette so intensely she couldn't resist her reaction. Her feet were moving before she could even think and she was throwing herself at Elyza. She wrapped her in such an intense hug she even shocked herself.   
Elyza huffed, barely catching the brunette, "Woah! Hello, Princess." She might have been shocked and a little taken aback, but she instinctively wrapped her arms around the younger girl. She sucked in a deep breath, the scent of freshly washed hair and a woodsy body wash invaded her senses and she felt herself relax.   
"Sorry," Alicia finally withdrew when Elyza put her down on her feet. She brushed her hair out of her face and then smacked Elyza on the shoulder. "You don't do shit like that."   
"What did I do?"   
Alicia rolled her eyes and opened her mouth before she realized Elyza was smirking at her, a challenge sparkling in her eyes. "Shut up. Don't do that again."   
"What did I do?"   
"You just… put yourself in danger. Don't do it again without taking someone with you."   
"I was well protected, Alicia. Your bat was there to keep me safe," she propped it up. "Thank you, by the way." She held it out to the brunette who took it without another word.   
Someone cleared their throat from behind the two girls and they both suddenly realized they had an audience. The three boys were looking at them oddly, as if they had grown second heads or something. Nick looked as though he thought Alicia was some sort of alien from another planet.   
They stood there in silence, staring at each other before Elyza pointed in the direction that she'd come from. "I think I found something promising."   
That drew everyone's attention back to the situation at hand. Elyza explained the suburban looking compound and how empty it seemed as they walked. Travis seemed to believe that it was a better, safer bet than delving into the overrun base. It was probably the only reason he agreed to the plan.  in the first place.   
Nick helped boost everyone up and along the cement wall before Travis helped him up by grabbing his arm. Chris was already on the other side of the metal fence by the time Alicia jumped down with a grunt. Elyza was next to her almost instantly, straightening her jacket as she always seemed to do when she moved so much.   
"Time to scavenge." Nick grunted after dusting off his pants.   
"Now I know how vultures feel," Elyza wrinkled her nose and pulled her handgun from her waistband.   
"Oh well, nobody's going to be using this stuff," Chris's voice was full of an unnecessary amount of attitude Elyza didn't like at all.   
She walked a little faster to stand next to him, "Still, all of this… well, someone owned it and cherished it and we're going to take it. Show a little consideration for the people that have died because of all of this, yeah?"   
Chris didn't respond but his expression grew more clouded and his heavy eyebrows pulled tighter together. Elyza didn't stick around long enough to hear a response, if there was any. She moved ahead, to stand beside Travis who seemed lost in thought as he stared at the abandoned, picture-perfect homes before him.   
They were all two stories tall and most of them looked like they had come right out of a traditional middle-class family movie. Clean and neat, some of them with nice looking cars right out front.   
"I think we should split up; we'll cover more ground that way."   
"Good idea." Travis nodded, "We'll split up into two groups—"   
"Three. Nick and Alicia, you and Chris, I can go on my own." Elyza crossed her arms over her chest, "I'll take the houses along the back, T-stretch if you guys will take either row. If we're fast, we can get done by midday."   
Alicia was the first to protest the plan. "You are not going alone. What if there's something in a house and you get killed?"   
"Then I'll die alone." Elyza winked, "Quit worrying so much, Alicia. I'll be fine."   
"Yeah, she'll be fine." Nick assured, "She's probably the most trained out of all of us."   
"That doesn't mean she can't die," Alicia rolled her eyes and gave her brother a patronizing look.   
"It means she's least likely to die," Nick amended and took interest in his gun, checking the clip before slipping it back in his gun. Alicia reminded silent so he continued. "Alicia and I'll take this stretch." He gestured to the left side of the road.   
"Guess that leaves dad and I with the other one," Chris stated. "Let's move." He was strutting down the sidewalk in record time. His shoulders were hunched and he held the golf club like a sword, stretched out in front of him.   
"Make sure to grab necessity, not what you want," she warned Nick and Alicia.   
"Antibiotics and food supplies that don't consist of fish, I know." Alicia rolled her eyes again, "I'm not an idiot, Lex."   
Elyza winked at once more and saluted her. "Later, princess." She turned her back to the brunette and jogged up the street. She passed Chris and circled around the first house she was going to hit before testing the front door. Of course, she wasn't going to have any luck and was forced to pick the lock on the slide glass door in the back yard before slipping inside.   
The backdoor led directly into the dining room, the kitchen to the left and open with a central island. Elyza's eyes scanned the area, finding it stuck in a time and place that was long gone. Kids toys lay on the floor and strewn about the living room and a basket of laundry had been tipped over on the kitchen table. She strained her ears, trying to hear any noise she could without moving. When there wasn't a single sound, she stepped into the kitchen.   
The oven was closest to her so she grabbed a pan from the drawer beneath it and slammed it against the stovetop. The sound echoed through the house and Elyza cupped her hands around her mouth, "Hey! Anyone home?"   
Once the echoes faded, Elyza stood tensed and straining to hear any indication that she wasn't alone. Her hands gripped the handgun tightly in anticipation of a fight. When nothing happened for a solid minute she decided that it was safe. The other gun was still pressed tightly to the base of her spine. It comforted her to know that she had something she could use as backup just in case.   
Elyza edged forward and heard the floorboards creak underfoot. She placed the frying pan onto the counter and brought her weapon up, holding it ready for any potential threats. She was almost certain that there wasn't a zombie in this house, but that didn't keep her from being cautious.   
With one more look around she moved into the living room and headed up to the second floor.   
~ ~ ~   
It was like being able to step into a place frozen in time. As if someone had taken a picture and allowed Alicia to step into it. There was a laptop left open - dead but open - and a pencil lying on the counter next to a pad of paper with a partial grocery list written down. There were a couple of phones lying on tables and one still plugged into a charger.   
Alicia tried to avoid looking at the photos, finding the evidence of a family everywhere she looked. It was impossible not to, though and she felt for this family. She didn't know where they were or what had happened to them, but the thinking of the unknown made her feel worse.   
This family had been forced from their home and could have been trying to survive like she was. Or they could have been dead, blindsided by the apocalypse. Hopefully they hadn't even known what happened and they had died oblivious to the true horrors they could have experienced while they were alive.   
Nick cleared the main room and the first floor while Alicia took the stairs slowly. The power was completely out so the first landing was shrouded in shadows. She could see framed pictures on the wall. This time, though, Alicia couldn't resist looking, the temptation was too great.   
It was a family of four. The kids were young, a boy and a girl, all smiling wide while their parents stood behind them. Both adults were dressed in military uniform, perfectly pressed and formed. The boy couldn't have been much more than twelve while the girl was younger, maybe a little over eight. They were blonde, taking after their father in that sense while most of their features were vaguely of their mother.   
A pang shot through Alicia's chest and she felt tears prick painfully at her eyes.   
"Alicia?" Nick called, "Clear?"   
She shook her head and licked her lip, promising herself to avoid looking at anymore pictures. "Yeah, I'm going." She called back softly.   
As she took the next step she heard the hissing and groans of an aroused zombie.   
Her entire body tensed and adrenaline flooded her veins so quickly it made her hands tremble. She glanced down and tightened her grip on her bat. I've done this before, she thought, I've killed these things before. But that didn't stop her from thinking about this family and the possibility that the zombie upstairs was likely one of them.   
"Alicia!" Nick called, but he was already taking the stairs two at a time until he was standing next to her. His eyes traced over his sister before finally settling on her eyes, "Are you alright?"   
"There's one up there," she nodded in the direction of the second story.   
"Oh," Nick assumed she was just afraid to go up there herself and wanted her brother there to protect her. He stepped up onto the second landing and glanced down at Alicia, "stay here, I'll take care of it."   
She felt stupid for being afraid. She'd done this before, she shouldn't be afraid now. She took a deep, settling breath and forced her hands to stop trembling, then took the final few steps up to the second floor. Nick was already in the far room, in search of any signs of danger. He was moving methodically, while Alicia tuned her ears to listen for the hissing she knew would tell her where the zombie was.   
Thump thump thump. It was coming from the left side of the hallway. The carpet beneath her feet managed to muffle the noise of her approach, but when she turned the doorknob and opened the door, she knew this wasn't going to be easy. The sheets on the bed were pink and there were barbies laying strew on the ground.   
It was like stepping into another picture, she was going into a little girl's room that defined her in most ways. The little girl clearly liked pink and her parents spoiled her rotten with pretty much anything she wanted. There was a barbie dream house pressed up against the far wall, open with dolls sitting in various positions. Alicia would have killed for one of those dream houses as a kid and felt a pang of sadness in her chest.   
The thumping started up again and she surveyed the room once again. The closet doors were bulging out periodically and the zombie within must have caught her scent because it was going absolutely wild. There was a rubber band double tied around the knobs on the wooden doors, which was barely keeping the dead contained.   
"Alicia!" Nick called from the doorway. He opened his mouth to say something more but paused when he caught sight of the closet. "Stand to the side and open the door. I'll kill it." He pulled a knife from its sheath at his waist and gestured for Alicia to stand parallel to the door.   
She moved and glanced at Nick for his permission to open the door. When he nodded she yanked the rubber band from the door and the next few seconds were so chaotic she wasn't really sure what had happened.   
The zombie burst through the door and Nick must not have expected a little girl of eight to attack him. His body straightened up and he stared in shock as it stumbled towards him. Her shirt was drenched in blood and her hair was matted to her skull. Her skin looked dehydrated and was clinging to her bones. She looked like she could have easily been broken in half if someone put in minimal effort in doing so.   
She plowed into Nick so hard he tripped and fell backwards onto the bed. Alicia's feet felt cemented to the ground, her body frozen as adrenaline coursed through it once again. She watched helplessly as her brother wrapped his hand around the little girl's throat and threw her off. He scrambled to his feet and held the knife out in front of him, to keep it between himself and the zombie.   
Alicia swallowed hard and watched as Nick played a game with the zombie. He didn't want to kill this girl, it was obvious in the way he kept dodging and hitting instead of going in for the kill. If someone didn't do something soon, the zombie would get in the lucky shot and Nick would be dead.   
She tightened her grip on the bat in her hand and stepped forward. The little girl was honed in on Nick so she didn't see Alicia coming from behind her. With her aim true, Alicia squeezed her eyes shut and swung the bat forward and felt rather than heard the impact of the wood hitting the girl's head.   
Keeping her eyes tightly shut, Alicia swung again and when she felt the resound crack of hitting another body. She felt tears prick at her eyes and squeezed them tighter, a sob tightened her stomach and came out in a strangled cry.   
Nick's arms came in contact with her skin and forced her to stop. He pried the bat from her hands and pulled her body against his. Alicia didn't open her eyes, she couldn't, but her body collapsed on itself and she cried. She cried because she was frustrated; why did this have to happen to her? What had she done so wrong that she deserved to live like this? What had any of them done? What had this little girl done to deserve to end up as a dead, bloodthirsty monster? It just wasn't fair.   
"It's okay, Licia’. It's okay." Nick whispered, his breath hot in her ear. "We'll get through this. Breathe."   
He kept whispering soothing nothings in her ear as she calmed down. Her head hurt and her body shook but she felt better. It felt like her chest  had caved in and she sucked in a deep breath.  It had been hours before she finally pulled out of her brother's embrace.   
"Are you okay?" He asked, eyes shining with concern. He brushed a strand of her hair out of her face and caught her eyes. He was a little freaked out at Alicia's reaction, he had never seen anything so violent out of his calm, stoic sister before. This life--this world--was changing her and he didn't know if he liked it. She was supposed to be going to college and having a successful career, not struggling to survive when she was only a teenager.

Alicia sucked in a deep breath, she trembled so hard Nick felt it as she stepped out of his embrace. Her eyes were red and puffy but she avoided looking at him directly, opting to duck her head. She avoided the spot where the girl lay and skirted around it. "I'm fine. We need to check for medicine. If you see anything we could use, grab it. We have to keep moving."  
Every time Nick tried to approach her after that, it seemed as if there was a wall between them. Alicia kept her distance and went through the motions of searching primarily for antibiotics with Ofelia in mind. She avoided pictures and anything personal, deciding it was completely logical to leave everything where it was if she didn't need it.  
When they didn't find anything except topical creams for some type of infection, a couple of tubes of makeup and a small first aid kit with anti-bacterial cream they gave up. They didn't find much else at the other houses they hit.  
Their sweeps were silent unless they were shouting that the rooms were clear. After their row of houses were done, the sun was halfway through its descent in the sky. They had spotted Chris and Travis on the opposite side of the street once and after a disappointed shake of Travis's head they discovered none of them had been very lucky. There didn't seem to be any other infected within the compound besides the one Alicia had killed.  
"We should go check on Travis and Chris, see if they need any help." Nick suggested once they exited their final home. Alicia felt off the entire time and was in desperate need to escape this reality. She didn't know how to, though. She didn't know how to feel normal after what she had done.  
The sound of gunshots drew her from her thoughts. It wasn't just one gun, it was multiple, going off at nearly the same time. Alicia's heart lurched into her throat and she took off in the direction Elyza had taken before she could even think about it.  
"Alicia!" Nick shouted, taking off in the opposite direction.  
"I'll be back!" She tossed over her shoulder. More gunshots rang out, allowing Alicia to track the sound better. She came across the house where the noise was loudest and rushed inside. She took the stairs two at a time when she heard loud commotion, as if someone was falling.  
"Elyza!" She shouted, her voice cracking when she didn't find the blonde.  
"Down here!" Elyza called, her voice hoarse and weaker than usual as it came from somewhere downstairs. Alicia rushed down until she came across a door leading down into a basement. The blonde was sitting at the top step, her shoulders slumped forward in a position of defeat.  
"Elyza," Alicia breathed in relief, "are you okay?" she reached out and gently pressed her fingertips into Elyza's shoulder after resting her bat against the wall. The older girl was holding her gun tightly in her hand with her wrist pressed tightly against her forehead, eyes closed. Alicia didn't want to spook her into accidentally turning the weapon on her.  
When she didn't get a response, Alicia settled onto the step next to her in silence. She would wait until Elyza wanted to talk.  
The blonde didn't move for several moments, sitting in the same position. When she did, it was to place the gun on the lower step. Alicia noticed them shaking and wanted to reach out, to try to help her in some way.  
"I had to," Elyza breathed, gesturing further down the stairs.  
"Had to what?" Alicia's voice was soft, coaxing while she tried to pull Elyza from whatever place she was in. The blonde couldn't formulate a response though and gestured down the steps vaguely.  
Alicia stood and took the stairs slowly down into the drafty, humid basement. She didn't specifically know what to expect, but knew there was going to be something she didn't want to see. The lighting was dim, only one narrow slit just above ground in the far right corner, but Alicia really didn't want to see this scene in revealing light.  
There were three bodies, two large and one much smaller--small enough to be a toddler. All three of their heads were bloody and nearly unrecognizable with a bullet-sized hole in their foreheads. A man lay with his head on the bottom step of the stairs, facing down, blood from his head dripping slowly onto the cement. His hair was matted, thin and patchy in some places.  
A woman lay further away, flat on her back as her unseeing eyes stared above her. Blood slowly dripped from her forehead, over the curve of her nose and down her cheek, her hair covered most of her face.  
The child couldn't have been older than four and was slumped against the wall nearest their mother. From this distance, Alicia couldn't tell if it was male or female and didn't want to get close enough to find out. There was a dark matting of blood dripping onto the child's shirt that she could see from this distance, it made Alicia's stomach roll. Elyza had been forced to do this.  
She turned quickly and ascended the stairs again, crouching in front of Elyza to catch her eyes. "Hey, you had no choice."  
Elyza's blues were shiny and bloodshot, she looked utterly disgusted with herself. She squeezed her eyes shut and dug the heels of her palms into them, trying to stave of the tears that weren't stopping.  
"Why don't I have a choice?" She breathed, there was an obvious frustration in her voice which made it crack as her emotions got the better of her.  
Alicia leaned forward, eyebrows furrowing as she furiously tried to think of a way to make her friend feel better. She reached out and pulled Elyza's hands away from her face and murmured her name until she had her full attention. "I don't know why any of this has happened. All that matters is that you're alive. You and me and...all of us, we'll carry all of these deaths...all of the horrible things we've had to do to survive with us forever. But they'll make us better."  
Elyza scoffed and tried to pull away but Alicia firmly turned her face back until blue met green again.  
"I'm serious. All of this...there's a reason. There's a reason for all of this death and destruction and there's a reason for why we're still alive. You are here to live and to live we have to survive." Alicia's thumb lightly brushed over the curve of Elyza's cheek, ghosting over the beauty mark above her lip as she spoke. "I had to do it too...a couple of houses over."  
Elyza's eyes were wide with something Alicia would have called wonderment if she hadn't known better. It made her stomach twist in a pleasurable way and she couldn't help but notice how soft Elyza's lips looked. She hadn't even felt this way with Matt, at least not so intensely. Just the thought of him made her heart clench painfully and she didn't want to think about the way she had found him.  
Back then she had been so naive. She hadn't known what was going on and wasn't capable of wrapping her brain around it either. Now though, she was painfully conscious of the death that came with life being so unpredictable. Anyone could die at any moment and Alicia was lucky to still have her family.  
"I'm sorry, Licia," Elyza's voice was soft and her fingers on the inside of Alicia's sensitive wrist brought her out of her thoughts. She withdrew her hand completely as Elyza continued. "You're right, we're here for some reason."  
Alicia licked her lips and nodded, pulling her eyes away from Elyza's lips. "Of course I'm right," she tried to play it off with an eyeroll and a smirk.  
Elyza let out a soft laugh, though it seemed to come a little harder. But the somber mood was finally broken, neither of them felt as lost as before.  
"Alicia? Elyza?" Nick called from upstairs and broke them from their moment.  
It took all of her willpower to pull her eyes from her deep blue eyes; she felt like she was drowning in them. It wasn't a feeling she particularly hated, it just made it hard to focus and felt like she had cobwebs in her brain. "We're down here!" She shouted before grabbing Elyza's hand. "Come on. They don't need to see this."  
The two of them met the three boys in the living room. Chris was dappled with blood splatter and Travis's eyes looked vacant, as if he was in shock. "Are you guys okay?" Nick asked, though his attention was mostly aimed at Alicia.  
"We're fine," Alicia didn't let go of Elyza's hand and when she squeezed it, Elyza felt even more self-conscious about it. She spotted Chris sending her a weird glare and Nick giving her a sideways glance. She withdrew her hand and avoided looking at Alicia when she gave her a questioning look. She made it look like she was adjusting her jacket before crossing her arms over her chest.  
"Did we find anything?" Travis asked, his voice was hollow and filled with exhaustion.  
"Not anything that will help Ofelia on my end," Elyza reported, "Though I did find several elements that could make a good first aid kit and help treat injuries."  
Everyone agreed that they had had no luck finding antibiotics or medicine strong enough to help Ofelia's blood infection. Elyza didn't know what else they could do, this was their best bet and yet it seemed to be a dead end. They all agreed that they couldn't go back empty handed, they didn't want to leave Ofelia in that position, yet they couldn't think of anything they could do.  
"We could go into the military base." Alicia suggested. They were still standing in the living room, mulling over their options.  
Travis shook his head, "No. That place is infested with the dead, that's too dangerous."  
"Travis-"  
"No, Alicia," Nick agreed, though his jaw ticked as if he was upset he was forced to agree with Travis in any way. "It's too dangerous, maybe there's some place nearby."  
"This is the only place…" Elyza trailed off and ran a frustrated hand through her hair. "Unless you want to go into the city...and that's more dangerous than the base."  
"We're not going into the base and that's final. I don't want to report back to your mother that one of you died." Travis huffed and turned to take a look around, "We need to find a place to hole up for the night before we head back tomorrow."  
"This place seems fine to me," Chris shrugged, already eyeing the couch.  
"No," Alicia blurted before Elyza could even open her mouth. "The place next door would be better."  
"Why?" Nick raised an eyebrow, "They're all the same."  
"Just listen to me," Alicia huffed and was already on her way to the front door, leaving the rest of the group to follow in her footsteps. None of them really had a choice.  
Travis and Nick shared a dubious look before shrugging and following Alicia out of the house. The sun was already beginning to to fall beyond the horizon. With winter coming the nights were longer and the days were waning. A chill was seeping into the air and the sky was colored with pinks and purples.  
They trudged their way into a house Elyza had already cleared. Everyone hesitated in the entryway, unsure of what to do. It felt too invasive to just make themselves at home, especially since the people who lived there were most likely dead.  
Chris was the first one to say something, "I'm going to sleep upstairs."  
"Chris, that's not-"  
"Not what?" Chris turned. "Appropriate? They're dead, dad. And I don't want to sleep on a couch or floor. So yeah," Chris shrugged and whirled around again. "Goodnight!"  
Travis shook his head and glanced at the other three. "I'll go with him, I guess." He commented before trailing his son.  
Nick shrugged and wandered into the living room, where a comfortable-looking couch was. "I call this couch!"  
"Fuck you, Nick." Alicia called.  
"Hey," Elyza said, in the family room where there was a large corner couch that stretched wide enough to seat more than six. "This looks badass."  
Alicia ducked around the wall and her eyebrows rose. "Share with me?"  
"You want me to sleep with you?" Elyza smirked and raised a curious eyebrow.  
The snarkiness and teasing eyes made Alicia's mouth go dry but she tried to ignore it. "You sleep in the same room as me all the time. Can't be much different."  
Elyza chuckled and tossed her bag on the ground and settled onto the leather couch. She sighed with relief before slipping her shoes off. The horror of killing that kid...of seeing it want to kill her...of watching how its innocence and humanity had been devastated by the horrors of the apocalypse.  
"Hungry?" Alicia asked, pulling her bag off and collapsing next to Elyza. She opened one of the zippers with food in it that her mother had packed for them. There was some dried beef jerky and a package of saltine crackers in her bag. The crackers were crushed and her water bottle was only about half full, but it would have to do.  
Elyza reached into her bag and pulled a similar package out, though her bottle had less water in it. "I can eat mine, thanks though." She took a sip of her water and cracked open her bag of crackers.  
They sat in exhausted silence, both of them mulling over their days in their heads and wondering if they would ever be able to get over it. Elyza always wanted to be a badass, especially when she was younger and her dad was teaching her all of these things for the first time. Now, she wasn't sure if she wanted to have all of these skills her dad had taught her. The only thing she could think of to make herself feel better was knowing that she could protect the people she cared about.  
"You're thinking very loudly," Alicia said after a while. She was stretched out along the other end of the couch with a pillow tucked under her head. Travis had come down awhile ago with a pile of throw blankets and pillows and Alicia looked cute bundled up underneath them all.  
Elyza was still sitting in vaguely the same position as she had been for the last hour. Her brain had been somewhere else for so long her body felt stiff and sore. She glanced up at the brunette and her lips twitched into a smile, "I'm sorry."  
She stood and stretched her back until it popped and rubbed at her eyes. Now that she was moving she realized the sun was pretty much down and the house was silent.  
"Don't be sorry," Alicia murmured and watched Elyza through intent green eyes. "So I've been thinking…" she trailed off and sat up, running a hand through her hair.  
"Oh no," Elyza rolled her eyes, her voice growing cautious. "That's never a good thing." Alicia gestured for her to sit down next to her.  
"Ofelia needs medication and Travis is too afraid or cautious or whatever to let anyone go into the military base. I get that it's dangerous and I get that someone could die. But Ofelia could die too....I would rather risk my life for her than just let her die." Alicia spoke slowly, as if trying to put the words together properly and trying to convince Elyza at the same time. Elyza knew exactly what she was saying and understood it. Travis just didn't want anyone getting hurt, they were all so young.  
Elyza could put two and two together and figure out what Alicia wanted to do. She didn't want to voice it so she carefully formulated a response, "What are you thinking?"  
"I think we should do it."  
"What about Travis?"  
"He doesn't have to know," Alicia lowered her voice conspiratorially and scooted closer to Elyza. "We can do it. If we can get to the medical center, the medicine shouldn't be too hard to find."  
If Elyza was looking at the bigger picture, she would have to agree that Alicia was right. Doing anything they could to treat Ofelia's infection would be the best way to go, but Elyza didn't want to think that way. She thought of the risk Alicia was going to be at, she thought of the likelihood that she would get killed. If they did this, her head wouldn't be focused on the task at hand, it would be focused on getting Alicia out of there safely.  
"I don't think that's a good idea," she concluded after a moment. "You could get hurt."  
Alicia made a weird growling noise in the back of her throat and slouched against the back of the couch forcefully. "Everyone doesn't want me to get hurt. But you said yourself I can make my own decisions. So if you don't go with me, I'll go alone."  
"I'm sitting right here, you can't sneak past me," Elyza chuckled.  
"Well, I'll find someway. You have to sleep at some point. If you don't go with me, I'm going alone," she reiterated. The fire in her eyes made Elyza real back a bit. Alicia was completely serious, her jaw was clenched and head held high in such a way that nobody would be able to change her mind. She could be stubborn when she wanted to be, but only because she truly believed in what she was doing.  
If Elyza kept telling her no, then she would find a way to go on her own. If she went on her own, there was a much larger chance that she was going to get herself killed. "Fine," she begrudgingly relented, "I'll go with you. But get some sleep. We'll leave before everyone gets up."  
Alicia stared at her as if she had grown a second head. She had her arms crossed over her chest and light bags under her eyes from lack of sleep. She looked exhausted but a smile still spread across her face. "Thanks."  
Elyza only nodded, though she had this weird feeling in the pit of her stomach. She didn't know if it was nerves or a feeling of foreboding, but she didn't like it and it put her on edge.  
"Hey," Alicia must have caught onto her shift in mood and laced their fingers together. Her voice softened considerably when she continued. "I'm going to be okay. You don't have to worry about me."  
"Yes I do," Elyza sighed and squeezed the hand intertwined with hers. "You're important to everyone here and none of us want to lose you."  
"I'm not going anywhere, Elyza. I'll be fine and you'll be there to keep me safe if you're so worried about it." Alicia tried for a reassuring smile but it only succeeded in making Elyza want to kiss her. It was nearly impossible to resist the urge to lean in and kiss that smile right off of Alicia's face. She wanted to, God did she want to, but Alicia wasn't looking for that right now. That was blatantly obvious.  
"Get some sleep," Elyza stood and moved back to her side of the couch, settling down. "I'll wake you when it's time."


	20. Chapter Twenty: Horrible Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elyza and Alicia raid the Point Loma military base. Elyza thinks she's a badass and Alicia puts her in her place. Lots of zombies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Heeeello, and thank you for your patience! I am just about to be getting out of school and instead of increasing; my workload has decreased as the semester draws to a close. This is great news because I managed to get a moment to sit down and write this chapter for you! I hope you enjoy it and if you like it, feel free to check out my other stories and subscribe directly to me to receive notifications when I update (which will be soon on everything)! Also, feel free to drop a comment and we can discuss this story, we’re about to get into the thick of it and I would like to know what you think! ~TGF

**Chapter Twenty: Antibiotics**

Alicia woke with a jolt to Elyza bumping her shoulder lightly. A part of her had believed that Elyza wouldn’t have woken her up, but instead and just left on her own to keep Alicia safe. Alicia wouldn’t have put it past the other girl, Elyza was the type of person to put everyone before herself. If she could keep Alicia safe, she would and they both knew it. Alicia chose to completely ignore the implications of what that meant.

“Come on, Alicia, everyone is asleep.” Elyza whispered, nudging her arm once again, a bit more insistently. The movement roused Alicia from her drowsy state.  The brunette sat up and rubbed at her eyes, trying to wipe the sleep from them as best as she could. She felt sluggish, like she’d only gotten thirty minutes of solid rest.

“I’m coming, calm down,” she said, her voice laced with sleepy irritation.

Elyza was kneeling on the ground next to Alicia; her jacket was on and her backpack was fully assembled. She was ready to go and her blue eyes shown earnestly in the low lighting. She was alert and grim, her lips settled into a hard line, obviously unhappy with their current mission. After Alicia was fully awake, she slipped on her shoes and the wrinkled button up she used as a pillow.

They used the backdoor through the kitchen to get out as silently as possible and stumbled into the darkness together. The sky was still pitch black and the air was brisk, the wind blowing just enough to cut through their long-sleeves. The darkness above held a clearness to it that Elyza hadn’t seen in a long time, almost as if the Earth was already starting to revert to times before humans had been hell-bent on destroying it. 

She could have stood there all night, enjoying the constellations and the stillness that was their new lives. She allowed herself to marvel for a split second before remembering they had things to do and very little time to do them. There was no time for enjoying life anymore, only surviving.

Elyza predicted that the sun wouldn’t be up for another couple of hours. She had waited a solid two hours and carefully listened for any sounds that anyone else was awake in the house before waking Alicia. She had developed a loose plan during that time, as well.

Nobody would know they were gone until the sun came up.

Together, the girls made it to the cement wall.  Elyza boosted Alicia up, and then she swung herself onto it.  They perched on the top and Alicia got a full view of what they were up against. With the distorted lighting, she didn’t get the full scope that Elyza had earlier in the day, but she seemed to get the gist of what they were up against. Her eyes widened and that little furrow between her eyebrows developed like it always did when she was concerned.

“Do you see why I didn’t want to do this?” Elyza asked once she noticed their predicament.  Her voice was low and husky as she whispered.

“You did want to do this though,” Alicia clenched her jaw and shot Elyza a glare, “but without me. Do you think I’m dead weight?”

“No, I don’t.” Irritation bubbled in Elyza’s stomach but she tried to keep it out of her voice. “Like I’ve said this whole time, I just don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Newsflash, Lyza, we’re all going to get hurt at one point or another. No matter how hard you or anyone else tries to keep me safe, I will get hurt or even worse, I’ll die. You said yourself that it’s stupid for me not to know how to defend myself, didn’t you?”

“Yes, you should know how to defend yourself,” Elyza sat down on the ledge, letting her legs hang over the side and her boots scrape lightly along the cement. “But you shouldn’t unnecessary put yourself in danger, that’s all I want.”

Alicia mimicked Elyza’s movements in a much jerkier movement, obviously pissed. “You must not know me very well, then, or else you’d know I only put myself in danger when the people I love and care about are in the same position.”

Elyza swallowed hard, she knew Ofelia meant something to Alicia and that was the reason she was so hell-bent on doing whatever she could to help the older girl. “Fine, let’s just keep moving. This way,” Elyza gestured towards the left, the squat building in the middle of the compound must have been the medical bay and she wanted to get them as close as possible before dropping them into unknown territory. The wall curved inward further up, getting them nearly thirty feet closer to the building and it was—for the most part—empty of dead bodies and potential dangers.

Elyza intended on causing a distraction that would draw the zombies away from the hospital, which she believed was the building surrounded by all of the dead bodies. It was their best bet and causing a distraction shouldn’t be that difficult once she got them where they needed to be. The only problem would be getting Alicia to comply.

They crouched low and moved quietly together. Elyza warred with the idea of giving Alicia the extra gun she had tucked in the backpack. Revealing that she had been keeping something from Alicia, or from anyone would be a risk. But risking Alicia was something she couldn’t really bare to think about.

Providing the brunette with a means of protection would be the best way to ensure her safety. Giving her the gun was the only option, so without questioning herself further she made the decision.

When they reached their drop off spot Elyza deemed appropriate, she paused and pulled the backpack from her shoulder. “Do you trust me?”

Alicia frowned and nodded instantly, “Yes, what’s going on?”

It warmed Elyza’s heart how willingly and wholeheartedly Alicia seemed to believe that. She’d never had someone trust her so fully in such a dangerous situation, “Here,” Elyza dug around in her bag and pulled the gun out. “Keep your bat close, but don’t put this gun down, understand?”

“What? Where did you get that?” Alicia spluttered.

“It doesn’t matter,” Elyza avoided her eyes by scanning their surroundings again. “Do you remember how to use it?” she asked once Alicia had taken it.

“Yeah,” Alicia nodded.

“Good, stay here,” Elyza replaced the backpack and dropped to the ground as silently as possible, holding her hand to Alicia for them both to remain silent when she noticed there was going to be an argument. “Just...I’m going to draw them away from the door. You run in and I’ll meet you there.”

“What?” Alicia whisper-shouted incredulously. She looked about ready to physically fight Elyza. “Elyza! How are you going to draw them away?” She bent forward, her entire body nearly over the edge. If she wasn’t careful, she would have fallen.

“Just trust me,” Elyza whispered back. “Stay up there until you get the signal!”

Elyza was already too far away to hear Alicia’s angry, “What the hell is the signal?”

The blonde kept moving faster and faster, as the moon was bright and cast the fields and buildings before her in a silver glow. Early in the day, she had seen a tank across the complex, it was in the process of moving or transferring what looked like fuel containers. Elyza only hoped it was fuel because it was her only chance at causing a loud enough distraction. If she could get one to explode, they would be able to get in without being caught by any of the dead.

Once she found the tank and the gasoline, she set up several dozen feet away. There were zombies all around, though none of them seemed interested or noticed she was there. The gunshot was going to draw them too her, so she tried to stay as far away from them as she could.

The first shot missed, or at least Elyza thought she missed. The noise echoed through the compound and made her flinch. Her ears rang, but she aimed again anyway. She was so focused she didn’t hear the angry steps behind or or notice Alicia until she was slamming into her.

On instinct, Elyza allowed the other girl’s momentum to carry them forward until she flipped the brunette over her shoulder. She straddled her attacker’s waist and held her gun to their face before even realizing it was Alicia.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Alicia wiggled out from underneath her and they both stood. When their feet were under them, Alicia shoved Elyza’s shoulders. “You’re all brawn and no brains, aren’t you?”

“What do you mean? I thought I told you to stay back there!” Elyza gestured wildly to her right with her gun.

The brunette huffed and grabbed her bat from where it had fallen on the ground. “Shooting at a barrel of gas isn’t going to cause it to explode. Do you know anything? This isn’t the movies, Elyza. This is real life, the gas to air ratio is all fucked up, maybe if it was pressurized or something it would, but it won’t.”

Elyza blinked several times, her shoulders slouching as Alicia continued to rant about some physics thing or other. Maybe she was being an idiot for thinking this would work, but she hadn’t really thought her plan through.

“You are an idiot, aren’t you? Did you even fully think about what we’re doing?” Alicia was nearly shouting now, and the noises they were making were drawing the dead’s attention. There were three moving in on them now.  Both of them prepared to fight, Alicia hefting her bat and Elyza pulling out her knife.

“You have to go into everything half-cocked, don’t you?” Alicia continued, “You don’t think about your own damn safety.” She swung her bat, hitting the nearest zombie with a sickening crunch and splattering blood across her clothes. Elyza shuddered, realizing Alicia probably wished it was her head she was beating in that moment.

They dispatched of the other two zombies and Alicia grabbed Elyza by the lapel of her jacket, pulling her in the direction of the fuel cans. They dodged zombies and killed the ones they had to until they stood before the canisters.

“Give me your matches,” Alicia wiggled her hand in Elyza’s direction without looking at her. Her green eyes were busy analyzing and searching for something along the ground. She dropped her hand when Elyza didn’t act fast enough and pulled herself up and onto the tank, which was nearly three feet off of the ground. She fiddled with something on the other, darker side, disappearing for a moment and leaving Elyza alone.

When she came back around, she held up a long rope tied around itself. “Matches?”

Elyza held them out, opting to stay silent at the annoyed tick in Alicia’s eyebrow and growl of urgency and anger in her tone. She didn’t want to get her head chewed off by another living human.

“Go stand guard,” Alicia gestured to Elyza as she began prying off the lid of a container. “You’ve irritated them and now they want to eat you.”

Elyza did as told, turning her back to the brunette and scanning their surroundings. The number of zombies on this side of the compound seemed to have doubled in the short time they had been there. It was Elyza’s own stupid fault, it was idiotic to think that shooting at the fuel would actually work. Alicia was right, this wasn’t a movie but the blonde wasn’t very logical when it came to Alicia.

Mostly, she just wanted to keep the other girl safe and out of harm's way. Maybe she needed to learn that Alicia could take care of herself and didn’t need any help from anyone else. If anything, Elyza’s attempts at furthering their relationship was falling on deaf ears. If Alicia didn’t have the same feelings for her as she did for Alicia, then she really needed to back off and reevaluate her feelings.

It wouldn’t do either of them very good for her to be pining after someone she couldn’t have. It would just cause more problems and blind Elyza’s judgement. As she stood guard, Elyza promised herself to keep Alicia at a distance from now on.

“Come here,” Alicia barked, gesturing for the blonde to move closer. She held out the end of the rope, “Take that as far as you can.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll stay here until all of the rope is used up, once it is, I’ll be right behind you.”

Elyza nodded, realizing that Alicia was using the rope as a long distance fuse so they weren’t close enough to the fire that would be caused once they ignited it. Elyza got about twenty yards away before the rope pulled tight in Alicia’s grasp.

The brunette allowed it to settle heavily into the gas and followed the rope all of the way back to where Elyza was sitting, hitting another zombie over the head in the process.

“Alright, here,” Alicia handed back the matches.

“What?” Elyza’s eyes widened and Alicia laughed at the comical expression of confusion on her face. She looked like a puppy with her head tilted to the side.

Alicia rested a hand on Elyza’s arm, “I’m not mad at you anymore...well, I am irritated, but I think that’s just how you make me feel all of the time. Anyway, I just didn’t want you to get yourself hurt with the matches while we were so close to an ignitable substance.”

A weight seemed to lift off of the blonde’s shoulders and she allowed an easy smile onto her lips, “Asshole.”

“I try,” Alicia shrugged, “now light the fuse.”

Elyza did and the fire ate at the rope instantly. It charred the grass and shot like a star through the rope and into the gas container. Alicia pulled at her until they were both running back in the direction they had come. They only got a couple of feet before the entire thing combusted, tossing liquid fire into the air and splattering around them onto the grass. It sent Elyza’s ears ringing again and she was certain she’d be deaf by the end of the endeavor.

An orange glow took over the night, much harsher and blinding than that of the moon. The fire danced across the faces of the dead as they moved towards the sound. Elyza couldn’t count on her hands how many dead she had killed in that short time span. They seemed to double and triple in their path as the seconds ticked by.

She never lost sight of Alicia, though. They stood as close to each other as they could and tried to keep track of the other like an anchor in a tempestuous sea. Once they reached the outer edge, up by the wall, they were mostly ignored. The zombies moved blindly towards the burning gasoline pile, attracted by the heat, light and sound it emitted.

“You are brilliant!” Elyza laughed, high off of adrenaline as she pulled Alicia into a hug. She ignored how angry the brunette probably still was at her.

When they pulled apart, Alicia was smiling at her. “Thanks, now let's move, we don’t have much time before Nick and the others find out what we did.”

Elyza nodded, the noise wasn’t going to go unnoticed by anyway within a ten time radius. Together, the girls made their way to the medical bay. It wasn’t taxing since they had caused their distraction, but as they got closer, it became more difficult to move through the mass of actual dead bodies littering the ground.

The smell made it harder to focus on their surroundings and not on the bodies beneath them. It was sickly and seemed like it was heavily clinging to everything as they came to the entrance of the medical hospital. Alicia and Elyza exchanged a look, trying to convey their distaste. There was nothing either of them could do about it, so they pushed forward.

The medbay was much like any other hospital, except on a much smaller scale and with less supplies. The doors were tightly closed a simple zip tie keeping the two handles together. It look like the bolt lock had been broken at some point and this was a last attempt at keeping whoever out.

Elyza slit the tie easily with her knife and pulled the door open. It creaked loudly on its hinges, echoing through the building.

Both girls stood back, as if expecting an attack right from the start. They shared another look when nothing came at them, before cautiously moving forward and into the darkness before them. It was probably the most danger Elyza had ever been in and it sent a cold thrill down her spine. All of her senses were on high alert as Alicia moved forward first, brandishing her bat threateningly.

Elyza gestured to the right, further down and deeper into the hospital. The lights were completely shut off, making the windowless hallway even darker. They closed the doors behind them, not wanting to draw any dead in after them.

It was slow going as they could barely see three feet in front of them and there was always the threat of a zombie surprising them. Elyza took point, shining her flashlight in the direction they were heading while Alicia stood a couple of feet to her left and scanned behind them and down any adjacent halls.

Neither of them wanted to be surprised. Neither of them really wanted to be killed, either.

They ran into a few of the dead, but they were mostly stragglers, weak from lack of food source and light. Signs pointed them in the direction of the infirmary, but when they arrived, all they found was a room full of the dead and a closed door. There was no way they would be able to get in without getting killed first.

“What should we do?” Elyza asked, turning to Alicia for guidance. She was done treating the other girl like a damsel in distress.

“If we draw them out it could cause a scene. We can’t use our guns or we’ll attract even more.” Alicia reasoned, cupping around her eyes to avoid the glare of the glass as she looked in. There were zombies dressed in military uniforms and lab coats. She counted nearly twelve that she could see before one slammed up against the door and frenziedly growled at her. It’s breath fogged up the window, and she barely managed to suppress a scream as she stumbled away.

She held her hand to her chest, trying to recover her breath. Elyza ran a hand over her back soothingly before looking in after her. She tried to get a good view but couldn’t see much due to the small size of the window. “The best option we have is to filter them out. Let out a few and then kill them until the room is empty.”

“That leaves one of us to kill and the other to hold the door.”

“I can do the killing if you’ll let me borrow your bat,” Elyza suggested.

“Alright,” Alicia nodded. Elyza was the most experienced with dealing with the dead, she would be the best fit for killing them. If Alicia was being completely honest, though, she just didn’t want anymore blood on her hands. She knew it was illogical to think of these zombies as living people because now they wanted to kill her, but she couldn’t help but feel guilty.

Elyza took the bat from Alicia’s outstretched hand and stepped backwards until her left heel was touching the opposite wall. Alicia tested the handle, making sure it was unlocked before nodding to Elyza, “Ready?”

“Yeah, only let out a few at a time,” Elyza warned, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves and find her center of gravity. 

Alicia opened the door halfway and Elyza tapped the edge of a metal food cart resting just within arms reach with the bat. The sound echoed quietly through the hallway and attracted the attention of the dead in the infirmary room.

Blue eyes met green just as the first zombie came stumbling out, in search of a meal. The girls nodded to each other before Elyza focused on the threat before her.

It took a lot of energy out of her and her aim wasn’t the best.  When Alycia let a zombie out, she would surge forward once it passed the lip of the door.  She would hit it first in the sternum to knock it onto the ground, then dole out a couple of swift hits to the skull until it broke and splattered her with blood.

Elyza had experienced an autopsy before, but hadn’t been able to see the brain up close. What she found here was more like pink mush, as if something was eating away at the flesh of the brain even after death. She didn’t understand it and didn’t need to, as being a doctor was not what she was meant to be anymore. Now, all she was was a survivor.

So she kept moving.

Alicia pressed her shoulder into the door, fighting against a dead doctor as he tried to escape. He had a pair of those binoculars on used for microscopic surgeries and his teeth were gnashing together disgustingly. The door closed with a thud and satisfying click.

She watched as Elyza brutally killed those she let out and couldn’t help but wonder how she did it so nonchalantly. She noticed the way Elyza’s face twisted into a grimace, her lips forming a thin line and her eyebrows coming together in a frown. It was clear the blonde didn’t take any pleasure in what she was doing, but did it purely out of necessity.   
Blood splattered every which way as they continued and soon enough, Alicia was covered in it as well. There was no getting around it, especially as Elyza continued to bludgeon the zombies to death.

As the body count built and all Alicia could see into the room was more zombies, she wondered how many more could be left. The bodies were building up, making it even more difficult to get the door shut when she needed to. As more zombies realized what was going on, they settled against the door, their weight and strength making it difficult for Alicia to get the door closed once again.

“I can’t hold them much longer,” she gasped, her shoes loosing traction as she slid backwards. She pressed her shoulder harder into the door and used all of her upper body strength to shove the door closed.

Elyza finished off the last one of this round of zombies and stood up straighter. She rushed to Alicia’s side, using her added strength to try and get the door closed before they were overrun.

As the door inched closer and closer, it stopped. No matter how hard they pushed, something was wedged between it and the threshold.

Elyza glanced down, noticing the ankle of the last zombie she had killed. “Can you hold it for a second?”

“Yeah,” her voice came out strained, but Alicia nodded nonetheless. She shifted her position and gritted her teeth together. “Go.”

Elyza pulled away from the door and they lost precious inches. Undead hands scraped uselessly at her arm, as they tried to force their way out of the room.

The blonde grabbed the body of one of the doctors and pulled, dislodging his leg from the door. This only seemed to send the zombies into more of a frenzy.  

Alicia cried out and finally lost her foot. The door slammed against her, the handle digging into her back and she fell forward, her head hitting the cement wall hard.

She crumbled to the ground and Elyza was left gawking. The undead came surging out of the room, stumbling over each other in their need for blood and it was Elyza’s blood they wanted.

“Alicia!” she shouted, it was impossible for her to get back to the brunette through the throng of zombies intent on eating her.

Elyza’s heart was thundering in her chest as she tried to see over the group - nearly ten in total - and find Alicia. Her initial instinct was to draw them away from the injured girl. She beat her bat against the metal cart again, louder and with much more purpose. It drew the horde’s attention and they began chasing after her.

Since she was so outnumbered, Elyza pulled out her gun and clicked off the safety. The noise she would have to deal with, but she couldn’t risk getting killed. She aimed, breathed and shot, grimacing at the recoil. She emptied half of her clip into the horde before resorting to the baseball bat.

After a brief altercation with several of the undead at once, she knew she had no choice but to retreat. There had to be another way around and some way to find somewhere safe. Turning on her heels, Elyza ran back down the hallway the way she had come, her heart aching with every step she took away from Alicia.

As she turned the corner to try to find another way around, she stopped in her tracks before nearly slamming into another zombie as it headed towards her. She grabbed the edge of the wall and yanked herself back around, gasping for breath. She was trapped with no way out.

A cold, pale hand grabbed her arm before she managed to jerk away and head back the way she came. She stopped halfway between the two hordes, heart hammering and defeat beginning to settle into her gut. She didn’t have enough bullets or strength to get out of this on her own.

Acceptance settled in just as she realized she wasn’t going to survive this. She was cornered and unable to get out, but she wasn’t going to go down without a fight. Elyza raised the bat and clenched her jaw, resolved to taking as many of these monsters down with her.

As she scanned the decaying, slackened faces before her to try to plot her strategy, her eyes landed on the door. Her heart was fluttering wildly and as the notion of survival sent her blood pumping and rushing through her veins.

Instead of standing her ground, the blonde rushed towards the nearly invisible supply closet. Her hands shook as she fumbled with the doorknob, slick with zombie blood. Once it was finally open, she stepped into it, just as a zombie caught onto the edge of her shirt and was nearly dragged in with her.

Elyza slammed the door shut behind her, squishing the hand in the door and sending blood splattering over herself. With a gasp and a sigh of relief, she slumped against the metal shelf behind her. She rubbed the sleeve of her jacket over her face and it came away stained with blood.

She took a moment to recover her breathing and evaluate her surroundings. It was a overcrowded janitor closet with chemicals and cleaning supplies hanging on the shelf above her. She managed to move some buckets, mops and brooms out of her way so she had a spot to rest against the back wall.

Her stomach dropped like a stone when she remembered Alicia. Out there, dazed and confused, she had been caught completely off guard. There was no telling if she was still alive and Elyza’s eyes filled with tears. One moment, Alicia was there, badass and beautiful, her brain working at an astounding pace to get them out a situation Elyza had put them in.

It was all her fault too. She dug the heels of her hands into her eyes, tossing the bat to the side when it bumped her forehead to keep the tears at bay. It felt like her heart was squeezing itself tightly in her chest when all of the sudden, it was all too real how easily you could lose someone in this world.

And Elyza just had.


	21. Chapter Twenty-One: Paranoia

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So this took way too long to write and I’m sorry about that :/ But it is a decently long chapter and I intend on updating this faster. But many things happen in this chapter and I hope you enjoy it. This story is going to end up moving forward pretty quickly and I plan on working on a sequel. If you want to see anything or are confused by something I could elaborate on in future chapters, please let me know. Get ready for some drama soon! Thanks for reading!
> 
> PS. I am on a cruise and just got internet (it’s our second day heading to Alaska) and I found out that two of my dear friends RhydianKnight and ClexaWarrior updated when they knew I’ve been waiting for their updates and wouldn’t be able to read them on this cruise. So I’m a little salty and I guess that’s expected when you’re in the middle of the ocean. ~TGF

 

**Chapter Twenty-One: Paranoia**

            Alicia’s head hurt and there was a buzzing in her ears that made it difficult to focus on anything else. The wall behind her was the only thing she was aware of besides the radiating pain. It felt like her heart was beating in her skull, and when she reached up to touch it, her fingers came away wet with blood.

            A faint noise underneath the constant buzzing made her eyes flutter open. She glanced up, finding the dirty tile of the hospital floor, then the white wall. As the buzzing faded, the noise became louder; it was almost like a feral growl inching closer.

           Everything then came flooding back in that moment. The zombies, where she was, why she was there and that Elyza was here somewhere. She had fallen and hit her head.  They had been fighting zombies to save Ofelia before that.  Where was Elyza?

            She rolled onto her back and came face to face with a zombie, its breath rancid and eyes devoid of emotion. A scream bubbled in her throat, but didn’t have time to escape.  Alicia twisted her body, kicked her legs out and shoved the zombie backwards.

            Scrambling to her feet, Alicia managed to stumble backwards and further down the hallway. Her head pounded and blood dripped over her eyebrow and into her eye as she ran.

           She couldn’t risk looking back, for there were a few straggling zombies hell-bent on getting as involved in the action as they could. Alicia had managed to dodge them and nearly gotten bit in the process. When she reached the end of the hallway, she stopped and gasped for breath.

         She turned back towards the direction she had come, but she found only a horde of zombies at the end of the hallway. The door to the infirmary was ajar and the undead were focusing in on something on the ground. Alicia’s heart fell.  She couldn’t see through the crowd, which only increased her anxiety.  Her eyes automatically tried to find the wheat-gold hair she had become so accustomed to.

          She felt a squeeze in her heart that she couldn’t place, a sense of loss she hadn’t felt since she'd left Matt sick and alone. She pressed her forehead into the wall in front of her, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. This had been a mistake. This entire mission had been a mistake. It was all her fault for insisting on entering the military compound.

           Elyza was most likely dead or dying because of her. She would either become one of those monsters or be eaten alive, her bones left to rot. The images that flashed through her mind threatened to send her into hysterics, so she tried her best to push them away.

          Alicia tried to focus on her breathing and will the tears away. There would be a time to grieve. There would be a time to deal with all of these turbulent, festering feeling that threatened to overwhelm her. She had a mission to complete, a job that had to be done or the entire endeavor would have been for nothing.

           With a final, calming breath, Alicia stood up straight and clenched her jaw. Her eyes scanned over the directional signs on the walls, hoping that something would lead her in the best direction.

         The Pharmacy.

          The arrow pointed to the left, much deeper into the hospital than Alicia was comfortable with. The hallway seemed to be darker than the other ones, and Alicia imagined the Greek God, Janus, standing there, his body grotesquely decomposed with his two heads and eyes as dead and blue as a zombie. He would be staring at her, silently demanding she make a decision.

            She shook the image from her brain, brushing it off as ridiculous and having read way too much Percy Jackson and watched too many horror films in middle school. Then she moved forward. No matter the danger, she was determined to finish this mission.

~   ~   ~

            The first warning sign that things were not right was the sound of footsteps behind her. She’d noticed the way zombies shuffled. They didn’t attempt to mask their approach because they had no cognitive way of doing so. This was a living person following her, yet when she stopped and glanced around, she couldn’t see anyone.

            Alicia sped up then, but those footsteps still seemed to be just behind her. Her heart pounded in her chest as she paused before turning a corner. She pressed her back against the wall and tried to steady her breathing to open her ears and listen. She could hear the person steadily approaching, their boots tapping lightly against the tiled ground. Briefly, she wondered if she should run.  If someone was living in this hellhole alone, they would have to be insane by now.

Staying would mean potentially getting killed, but running would only ensure her survival for a bit longer.  If the person following her was friendly and only wished to help, then that would be a different story. Maybe they could help her find Elyza. But if they had wanted to help her, why wouldn’t they have just approached her?

            All of these questions swirled through Alicia’s head, but she really needed to make a decision. Trusting her gut was the only way to go so she turned and headed further down the hallway. It was in her best interest to be cautious when meeting new people, especially when she was on land.

The footsteps begin to fade behind her as she continued to follow the signs for the pharmacy. It wasn’t until she reached the entrance that she heard the sounds of gunfire echo through the hallways somewhere to her right. Then came the moans and groans of the undead.

The first one came around the corner directly in front of her. It seemed like she couldn’t get away from them, as if they were somehow tracking her. Alicia turned, attempting to backtrack and find a different way around, but was cut off by another half a dozen of the dead. It seemed she was cornered once again, unable to find a safe way of escape.

Her mind raced and her eyes darted around the dimly lit corridor. She lunged for the door to her left, some sort of holding or utility room and tried the knob. When it clicked open, she glanced back up, finding the dead frenziedly stumbling in her direction, their arms extended. Heart pounding, she slipped inside, slamming the door hard behind her to keep out anymore of the dead.

After taking a moment to collect herself, she took in her dark surroundings. Reaching around, she opened her bag and snatch up the flashlight lying within. Clicking the button, she took in the small room around her.

It took only a moment to see the zombie heading straight for her. Dried, rust-red blood was caked on its neck and its eyes were bulging and bloodshot. Its teeth gnashed loudly and a frothy liquid pooled at the corners of its mouth. Alicia dropped the flashlight and turned, grasping the door handle and yanking. When it didn’t budge, she pounded her fists against it in frustration.

The zombie growled, which drew her attention back to the danger at hand. She grabbed her gun, the light of the flashlight only succeeded in casting a glow that she could barely see by. But that didn’t stop her from taking aim and firing.

Utterly terrified, Alicia emptied the entire clip into the undead man before she realized how idiotic that was. It kept moving towards her, having been unaffected by the bullets now riddled in its abdomen. Blood seeped from those wounds, but the zombie kept coming.

Alicia had just enough instinct to flip her bag around and shove it into the zombie’s outstretched arms. It went stumbling back, allowing her another moment to pull Elyza’s knife from her back pocket and flick it open. Blood rushed in her ears and the only sound she could hear was the pounding of her own heartbeat.

She could die here in this small, dark room and never be found by her family. This zombie could easily kill her if she couldn't dig her heels in and fight for her own survival.

~   ~   ~

            Elyza had finally collected herself and shoved all of her feelings away until she could think clearly. It took several minutes of steady breathing until she stood and listened at the door intently. When there was no noise or any sign of the dead outside, she carefully turned the knob until it clicked. She pushed it open slowly with her right hand, holding the gun up and aimed at the widening crack steadily.

            When the crack was wide enough, she peeked out and slid her body through. The hallway was empty save for the bodies she and Alicia had already killed and a few stragglers that posed no threat to Elyza unless they managed to corner her.

            Her eyes tracked the bodies and when she didn’t come across Alicia’s, her heart picked up speed. Without thinking of the consequences, she rushed down the hallway, further into the hospital. The sign indicators guided her back into the direction of the entrance, but she took a sharp left that lead her along the front wall towards the pharmacy.

           With the hope of finding Alicia igniting a fire in her chest, she moved forward. If the girl wasn’t lying half eaten or undead on the ground, then she had to be alive somewhere. But figuring out where she would go was going to be the hardest part of finding her.

If she was injured, she may have attempted to leave. But if Elyza had learned anything about this girl, it was that she was too stubborn and caring to just abandon this mission. Elyza searched for anything that would point her in the direction of medication as she moved, keeping her gun up and flashlight at the ready.

            There was no way she would be caught off guard again. Her eyes scanned her surroundings and she caught sight of a sign indicating that she had arrived at the pharmacy.  That was the direction Alicia would go if she was able to, because there was no way she would let Ofelia die if there was anything she could do to help it.

            “Damnit, Alicia,” she breathed, suddenly wishing the other girl wasn’t as stupidly brave as she was.

            She followed the signs carefully, keeping her eyes and ears peeled for any signs of the dead or Alicia. Elyza passed a side hallway, so distracted with searching for the next sign, she didn’t notice the zombie coming from behind her. It hissed and reached out, its hand snagging the strap of her backpack and pulling her back.

Nearly falling over herself, Elyza jerked herself around in search of her attacker. Her eyes landed upon a dark-haired girl about her general size. For a brief moment, her stature and hair color made Elyza think it was Alicia, until her head came up and the features were completely different.

            Briefly caught off guard, the zombie got the upper hand and Elyza desperately tried to fight off its advances. She batted its hands away with the flashlight before taking aim and shooting a bullet straight into an undead skull. Blood splattered everywhere and bone clattered against the wall and the ground.

            Brains landed on Elyza’s clothes and she felt the warm blood drip down her lips and in her hair. She wiped at her face desperately, hoping none of it had gotten into her mouth before recoiling. She shivered and tried to steady her breathing to keep from throwing up all over herself.

            After a moment of recovery and to stare disgustedly at the bits of brain on the ground, she wiped her sleeve over her face one last time and decided to keep moving. The moment she rounded the next corner, she came face to face with another half a dozen of the dead. Her heart jumped into her throat and she backpedaled in the direction she had come.

            Irritated and blood boiling with fear and adrenaline, she lashed out. Her fist connected with the wall and she backed up, done with these zombies and her inability to get around them. It felt like a never-ending cycle of losing and Elyza was tired of it.

Elyza raised her gun and clenched her jaw, aiming carefully before pulling the trigger on her gun. She counted the remainder of her bullets and knew she would run out before she killed all the zombies coming at her. Rather than trying to come up with a better plan of action, she fired slowly, making every bullet count.

After six bullets, there was two left and two more zombies coming at her. She was doused in zombie blood and sick to her stomach by the gore, but she had no other options. Shoving the gun into her pants, she placed both hands on Alicia’s bat and brought it up. The man dressed in nursing scrubs moved closer and Elyza stepped up, waiting impatiently until he came within reaching distance.

The bat swung and it cracked solidly with the side of the zombie’s head, snapping its neck and sending it crashing to the ground. Elyza spotted a twitch in its chest and stepped forward, bringing the bat down one more time and scrambling its brain for good measures.

The second one was a civilian, dressed in normal clothing with a heavy military jacket over them. It was female with blonde hair and looked like a much fresher death than the nurse before it.

Elyza tried not to think about it as she brought the bat up and let it swing. She missed its head, and the force of hitting it in the shoulder jolted up her elbows and into her spine. With a grunt, she kicked the zombie in the chest and sent it falling to the ground. Placing a steady foot on its chest, she brought the bat down one last time and killed it.

The silence that followed was nearly deafening. She stood surrounded by dead bodies, doused in blood and smelling like a decomposing body. Elyza glanced around herself in search of another threat, but only found a reflection of herself in a broken mirror.

Her body was slumped, but her shoulders rose and fell while her breath came hard. Blood and dirt were both caked to her face and her hair looked dyed nearly red. She looked very different from the University student she once was, even to herself.

Briefly, she wondered how she had gotten to this point, but pushed those thoughts away as quickly as they tried to come. There was no time for an existential crisis, she had a mission and needed to find Alicia so they could get back to the Abigail. Ofelia’s life depended on it and she would be damned if she let another person die on her watch.

Rapid gunfire drew her attention from her own mind and turned towards it, further down the corridor. It echoed through the halls and made it difficult to pinpoint, but there was only one person it could be. Without thinking about it further, Elyza bolted down the hallway and mentally begged for the gunfire not to stop.

She counted the bullets as she went, hesitating at the fork when another bullet echoed to her left, or at least she thought it was the left. After counting seven shots, it went silent for a moment and Elyza hectically searched along the hallway. She moved quickly, trying every door she came across until the screaming started.

The door had an employee’s only sign drilled into the heavy metal and a dead key card identification block right next to it. She pounded on it loudly and shouted, “Alicia!?!”

“Elyza?” it was faint, but seeped through the cracks in the door. Something slammed heavily against the inside, making the metal vibrate with the force. “There’s one in here! I can’t get out.”

“I’ve got you, don’t worry.” She called back reassuringly, her fingers already feeling along the lip of the door until she realized the problem. It must not have been fully closed when Alicia opened it and once it was, the automatic locking system had still somehow managed to kick in. She would have to force it open if she wanted to get her out.

Boosting the bat, she brought it down several times on the handle until it came loose. Wires held it together and Elyza ducked down close to get a good view of the inner mechanisms. Everything within went completely over her head but thinking on her feet had always been her greatest attribute.

She found a small mechanical motor system embedded deeper within the door. The only thing she could think of was finding some sort of switch potentially connected to the deadbolt. With shaking fingers, she fidgeted with it, twisted and turning the gears until she heard the final click.

A grunt came from inside, and Alicia cried out in pain, thumping against the door again. But Elyza opened it as soon as it was unlocked and the brunette practically slammed into her. Dark hair blocked her vision for a moment but in record time, Elyza withdrew her gun and sent the final bullets into the zombie’s head. The first one grazed its scalp, but the second one hit home and both girls slumped in relief.

Elyza’s arms settled against the frame of the door, shaking with adrenaline. Her head pounded and her heart skittered painfully in her chest. It took a minute for her to realize that Alicia was pressed against her, her arms squeezing so tightly around her torso it was difficult to breathe.

“You’re alive,” she mumbled, barely able to believe it. But Alicia’s hair smelled clean, like the shampoo she had used the morning before and a little bit like decomposing bodies. It didn’t matter though, because having her there, both of them covered in zombie blood and worn to the bone, when she thought Alicia had been dead only minutes before was one of the greatest reliefs of her life.

Alicia pulled away, her entire body quivering, “Thanks to you. I can’t thank you enough, Elyza.” There was a cut blossoming with blood on her forehead and Elyza carefully used her sleeve to wipe it away. Alicia hissed in pain and tried to jerk away.

“I need to look at it, Alicia,” she pointed out.

“After we get the medicine,” Alicia gestured towards the pharmacy several feet further down the hall.

Elyza agreed that she wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible so she allowed it to be left alone for a minute. Even though all of her instincts said she needed to make sure Alicia didn’t have a concussion, she really wanted to get out of there. So she stepped back and gave Alicia room to walk past her.

Alicia’s face fell briefly and she reached out, grabbing Elyza’s jacket. She wouldn’t meet the blonde’s eyes when she pulled her closer. “Give me a minute, though? I did almost die and so did you.”

Elyza nearly protested, but feeling the younger girl wrap her arms around her waist and bury her head in the crook of her neck made her stomach twist with nerves. She stood there, dazed for a moment because she wasn’t sure how to respond to this. Alicia’s body continued to shake and instinctively, Elyza rubbed her hand down her back, “I’ve got you.”

They stood there silently until Alicia’s body calmed and Elyza shut her eyes, enjoying the feeling of being at peace for even just a brief moment like this. It felt good, like she could possibly find safety and calm in such a violent and cruel new world. But she also knew that this was only because Alicia had nearly died and she needed some type of comfort, Elyza was just the lucky person to be there with her.

Alicia finally pulled away, they stared at each other, blue seeking out green. Elyza’s eyes were soft and sent warm shivers through Alicia’s stomach. There was something in them that she couldn’t quite place, but there wasn’t time to question it. “Let’s go.”

Elyza clenched her jaw once, nodding before turning away. They entered the pharmacy and hopped the counter together.

The shelves were practically empty and the few bottles they had found rolling on the floor and underneath furniture were empty or contained vitamins that wouldn’t help them. After rummaging through useless, empty bottles and trash several times, they found a bottle of ibuprofen and Alicia had resorted to crawling on the dusty floor to search underneath counters.

“I can’t find anything,” Elyza sighed in defeat after searching through the lobby that had once been full of ‘Get Well’ cards and other items that would make patients feel better when they received it from family members.

“Keep looking!” Alicia snapped back, her hope slowly fading too but she was unwilling to admit it.

After scouring the pharmacy one last time, Elyza was getting frustrated with Alicia’s inability to concede defeat. “Alicia, we need to go and I need to look at your head.”

“Just...one more time, I feel like we’re missing something.”

“We’ve looked through this place at least a dozen times. There isn’t anything useful here. Maybe somewhere else in the hos-” Elyza had collected some braces and ace bandages to use for potential injuries, but had ended up taking a seat by the front doors when Alicia refused to give up.

“We’re not risking going deeper into this place. Who knows how many dead are crawling within,” Alicia grumbled, feeling further underneath a kiosk because she swore she saw something orange underneath, something that could be a prescription bottle. The only problem was that her shoulder wouldn’t fit underneath the lip between the kiosk and the floor.

She grunted and turned her head away, pressing her cheek into the cold tile of the floor. Her shoulder twisted painfully but still, her fingers wouldn’t reach. With a growl of frustrated she pulled herself to her knees, slouching slightly because she was out of breath, “Elyza, come here.”

“What is it?” Elyza was there in an instant, kneeling next to her.

“There’s a bottle under there,” she pointed.

“And?” Elyza looked at her like she was crazy.

“It’s a prescription bottle and I can’t reach it. If you’ll pick this thing,” she hit it with her open palm, “up for me, I can grab it.”

            Elyza looked towards the ceiling and had to resist rolling her eyes. There was a point where she had to give up on finding what they needed because there wasn’t anything there. But that still hadn’t gotten through Alicia’s thick, stubborn skull. She would keep searching and grasping at straws until she found what she needed.

            Instead of arguing further, she hooked her fingers into the edges of the kiosk and braced her legs. With a grunt, she lifted upward and her shoulders strained painfully.

            Alicia grimaced with effort before reaching the bottle and rolling backwards just as Elyza’s grip faltered and the kiosk slammed back onto the tile, echoing through the room. A laugh escaped Alicia’s lips and Elyza stretched her aching shoulder before looking over.

            “What?”

            “It’s antibiotics,” her voice was small and breathless. She had rolled onto her back, lying flat on the ground and held the bottle up.

            Elyza jumped forward, snatching the bottle up and holding it towards the vague light coming from the hall. She counted the number of pills, “Eight, eight pills. Holy shit.”

            Alicia stood up, a smile wide on her face and eyes crinkled at the corners. It made Elyza’s heart skip a beat because she was certain she had never seen Alicia so happy and carefree. A laugh bubble from within her own chest, warm and relieving after all the stress of the day.

            They collapsed into each other, their arms squeezing tight around each other’s abdomens as they laughed. It grew in volume and strength and their joy fed off each other. It just felt so good to be alive and together that they got carried away in the pure elation of it.

            Their bodies pulled apart and Elyza felt so light, she got lost in the green depths of Alicia’s eyes. They sparkled and crinkled at the corners. Without hesitation, she cupped the side of her face and leaned forward, bringing Alicia’s lips to hers.

            It felt better than she had imagined, kissing Alicia. Her lips were soft and pliant beneath her own, cooler than her own but enjoyable nonetheless. When there was no response after a moment, Elyza yanked herself away, stumbling over her own feet in her haste.

            “I’m sorry,” she covered her own mouth, unable to believe she’d done that.

            Alicia stood there, blinking and the smile was gone from her face. Her lips had dropped, parted slightly in shock and she stared at Elyza like she was a stranger. Her mind couldn’t process what had just happened.

            She had never kissed a girl before and if she was being honest, she hadn’t done a very good job. Elyza was something else entirely, she knew, and it hadn’t crossed her mind that being more than friends with her was a possibility. Alicia knew there was something there, a connection deeper than just two people having met each other due to unfortunate circumstances. But were they even friends, did they know each other well enough to say that?

            As she stood there, wondering what her next move would be, Elyza’s heart was kicking in her chest. She extended the prescription bottle like a peace treaty, trying to bring the two of them back to equal ground. “I-, we should go.”

            She turned her back, heading towards the door when Alicia finally took the bottle. But what she didn’t expect was a hand at the crook of her elbow yanking her back around. Both of their momentum pulled them closer and their bodies were pressed tightly together. Their eyes met briefly, something sparkling in the depths of green eyes before soft lips were once again pressed to Elyza’s, this time moving in sync.

            Elyza was surprised, but kissed Alicia back anyway, taking a hold of her button up and pulling her closer. Alicia’s hands reached up and wrapped around the back of Elyza’s neck. They didn’t pull apart until air became necessary and when they did, gasping for breath, their foreheads remained pressed together.

            They moved slowly, and Elyza kept her eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of having Alicia’s body pressed against her own. Everything seemed to calm for the first time since the apocalypse started.

            “Elyza,” Alicia started.

            “Shhh, give me one more second,” she murmured, keeping her voice low for fear of ruining the moment. She didn’t open her eyes, just tugged lightly on Alicia’s shirt again and pressing their lips together briefly before finally pulling herself away.

            Alicia’s eyes still sparkled, but her jaw was tightly clenched. Her body seemed to tense up as she drew herself together to return to the mission at hand. The change and loss of emotion shocked Elyza for a moment before she did the same thing.

“We’ll talk about this when we get back,” Alicia reached out and squeezed her hand before moving past her, “but now we need to _actually_ get back.”

“You’re right,” Elyza hurried to the door, “your family will probably murder me.”

They moved together in sync as they navigated the halls of the hospital once again. It was still dark and the dead were still around every corner. They remained silent, using hand signals and mouthing words to get their messages across.

A couple of times, Alicia had to use her bat to dispose of the dead, but they managed to escape the darkness of the hospital without a serious incident. The sun was bright, and high in the sky. Dew from the cool night had almost completely dissipated and the air was growing warmer by the minute. The sunlight hurt Elyza’s eyes and she had to shield them to keep her head from throbbing.

They must have been in there for hours because by the time they hopped the stone wall, Nick, Travis and Chris were pacing back and forth. When Alicia dropped down just before Elyza did, Travis was already on her.

“What the hell were you thinking? What was I supposed to tell your mother if something bad happened?” his eyes flitted over her body, accounting for the cut on her forehead. He didn’t give her enough time to respond before continuing, “Are you hurt?”

Elyza didn’t have a chance to hear the brunette’s response before Nick was shoving himself in her face. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Having always been unable to respond well to being called out, Elyza was instantly defensive. She moved forward, nearly nose to nose with Nick, “We’re fine, thanks for asking.”

“I don’t care if you’re fine,” he shoved her shoulders and she slammed into the wall. “You have no right to putting my sister in danger. In risking her life.”

Elyza’s blood boiled in her veins and her face grew hot. She stepped forward and shoved him back, “I’m the last person that would put her in danger, Nick. I’m the last person that would let her get hurt.”

He stepped forward, eyes ablaze with a fury Elyza could only compare to something crazed. “She was safer here with us, you are not her family.”

“Nick,” Alicia shouted, shoving her way between the two of them and resting her hand on Elyza’s chest. She flashed the blonde a firm look that told her to back off before turning to her brother. “She kept me safe, I’m fine. We are fine, thanks for asking.”

Nick seemed to take a moment to look over his sister, “Your head,” he reached out but Alicia ducked away.

“I’m fine, Elyza checked it out,” she lied.

“If either of you ever do this again,” Nick pointed at Elyza, “I don’t care if she’s a doctor, she’s gone. I will kick her out of here faster than she can think. She’s not family, we don’t owe her our loyalty.” Then he was turning away and stalking off back in the direction of the ocean.

Chris was pacing back and forth behind his father, a permanent scowl on his face. Travis watched Nick go for a second before shaking his head and sighing. “Did you two find anything useful on your suicide mission?”

“At least someone asked,” Alicia grumbled, digging in her pocket and revealing the antibiotics. She handed it to Travis before gesturing at Elyza, “Elyza also found some first aid.”

“It’s in my bag,” Elyza dropped it from her shoulder and kneeled on the gravel beneath her. She unzipped the backpack and grabbed Alicia’s arm, “Come here, let me fix your head.”

“Is that really necessary? It stopped bleeding.” Alicia argued, crossing her arms.

“Would you just come here and quit arguing with me? It would make this go a lot faster,” she let go of Alicia’s arm and gestured for her to move closer. She pulled out the alcohol she’d found and a wad of cotton balls before standing up.

Elyza cupped the side of Alicia’s face tenderly, smirking at her before pressing the cotton balls doused in alcohol to Alicia’s forehead. “This is going to sting, love.”

Alicia hissed and tried to pull away but Elyza’s hand was firm against her cheek. “That hurts.”

“You cut yourself,” Elyza chuckled and dabbed at the spot until all the dried blood was gone. Alicia rolled her eyes and tried to hide the smile on her face, but Elyza could see right through it. Then she ducked back down and grabbed a sterile gauze pad, ripped open the package with her teeth and taped down the edges over the wound. She tapped Alicia’s cheek lightly and winked, “Ta da, all fixed.”

“Thanks,” Alicia patted at her head and stepped back, putting some space between.

Travis watched the two interact and frowned. He noticed the way they stayed closer to each other, something between them had changed but he couldn’t quite place his finger on it, “Are you two alright?”

“We’re fine.” Both spoke in tandem.

“Good, let's head back, we have a long trip ahead of us and the others are probably getting worried.”

~   ~   ~

            Alicia felt like she was being watched. It didn’t start until they left the town and finished their raid on the gas station. It was just an itch at the back of her neck that left her paranoid as she walked.

            She was at the back of the group with Elyza walking in front of her, talking quietly with Travis while Chris and Nick took the lead on the way back. Her eyes kept flitting to the rocks and the cliff up above, yet she couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary.

            Her eyes scanned the horizon once again and she spotted a boot before it disappeared. Then, several minutes later, dirt and pebbles fell from the cliff up above, pattering down the rock loudly. That was when she was certain someone was seriously following them.

The third time she caught sight of the person that was stalking them. It was a man, burly and archaic looking with a long beard and complicated braids of thick hair. He had a large ax propped on his shoulder and stood much farther behind them, it was only because Alicia glanced behind them that she saw him.

He didn’t seem to be hiding is presence any longer, but also wasn’t following them either. Alicia turned back around, “Elyza! Look!”

The blonde dropped back to walk with her, and glanced to where she was point, but came up empty. “What is it?”

“You didn’t see that?”

“See what? Nothing’s there, cutie.” Elyza chuckled, though continued to scan her surroundings.

“Someone’s following us.”

“I haven’t noticed anything, are you sure?” Alicia was grateful that Elyza never seemed to write her off as ridiculous or paranoid. She always took her seriously and listened to her when she had something to say. It was one of the many things that Alicia liked about Elyza.

“I’m sure…it was a big man with a beard…he looked like a cave man.”

“I haven’t felt anything weird or heard anything. Are you certain, though?”

Alicia frowned and shook her head, suddenly doubting herself. She could feel the tiredness of the day settling into her bones and wondered if maybe she was just sleep deprived. “I don’t know, maybe.”

“Maybe you’re just tired, ’Licia. You can sleep when we get back to the Abigail.” Elyza rubbed her shoulder lightly, concern evident in her eyes and the little crease between her eyebrows.

Alicia only nodded, glancing backwards one more time before trying to shake the bad feeling from her head.

After a brief lapse of silence, Elyza spoke up again, “How’s your head?”

“Hurts,” Alicia rolled her eyes and bumped her shoulder with Elyza’s.

Elyza rolled her eyes back. “We’ll be to the water soon, don’t worry.”

~   ~   ~

            When they got back to the ship, the sun was at its peaking point and everyone was waiting on deck. Madison checked on her children before looking over Travis and Chris. She got a bit fussy with Alicia’s head and Nick didn’t help matters by blaming it solely on Elyza.

            Aden limped his way over and punched Elyza on the shoulder lightly before the blonde brought him into a hug, “I told you I’d be back,” she whispered in his ear.

            “Thanks,” he breathed and pulled away. “Did you bring me back a souvenir?”

            Elyza rolled her eyes, “No, but I did bring Ofelia some medicine. Do you have it Travis?”

            The older man withdrew himself from his conversation with Madison and handed her the bottle. “Here.”

            Elyza nodded and made eye contact with Alicia, who was now being pestered once again by her mother. They nodded to each other briefly before Elyza moved to get her job started. Even though she was exhausted and wished only for a shower to rinse all the blood from her body, she had to check on Ofelia first.

            She moved below deck, Aden hot on her heels as she entered their shared room. Her first item of action was to remove Daniel from the room and check the older woman’s temperature. She was shaking and shivering and hardly coherent enough to swallow the antibiotics with a sip of water.

            It took her a half an hour to check and double check the bullet wound, then change the bandages. She cleaned it out with alcohol, which had Ofelia crying out and shifting in an attempt to get away, but Aden helped hold her down. Once Elyza was satisfied with her job, she finally settled down.

            A cool wash cloth was placed on Ofelia’s forehead and Elyza left Aden with explicit instructions to change it every twenty minutes to try to bring down her temperature. Daniel reentered the room once she began to gather her things to leave.

            “I will not forget this, Elyza,” he murmured to her, the only thanks she would receive from him she knew.

            “It’s my job,” she responded, but nodded nonetheless.

            With her things fully packed, she thankfully and tiredly dragged her feet down the hallway and into her shared room with Alicia. The brunette hadn’t returned yet, but Elyza’s eyes were so heavy that she barely managed to convince herself she needed to shower and not instantly fall asleep.

            The shower helped revitalize her and after another thirty minutes of resting under the warm spray and scrapping at her skin, she finally stepped out. It felt good to be clean and even though her body was clear of the violent things she had done, it didn’t keep her from remembering.

            She leaned heavily against the sink as the day seemed replay in her head. Every time her eyes closed, it seemed like the events were burned onto the back of her eyelids.

            With another shake of her head, she changed into clean clothes and left the bathroom. Alicia still wasn’t back when she returned to their room, but she wasn’t going to go in search of her. She wasn’t really in the mood to possibly be chewed out by another one of Alicia’s family members.

            They would have time to talk in the morning and even though Elyza felt a bit nervous, she was certain the discussion would go well. What she felt was not one-sided, she knew. Even though Alicia wasn’t the best at expressing her feelings in words, her kiss and her eyes were very good at doing it for her. There was something between them and putting a name to it wasn’t necessary so long as they admitted it to themselves and each other.

            Her eyes drifted shut as soon as her body slid under the cool blankets, and she was asleep by the time her head hit the pillow.

 


End file.
